A redone Chinatown park shows why public space matters in times like these

San Francisco voters, to their credit, have approved a procession of parks bonds over the years; money from a 2012 measure funded more than half of the playground’s $14.5 million makeover by the city’s Recreation and Park Department. The project included the imaginative overhaul by Jensen Architects of the clubhouse that connects Waverly Place and the playground — drab bricks were replaced by spacious windows on the east and west that allow you to look upward through the room from Waverly.

When the clubhouse reopens next month, the Community Youth Center will use it to provide remote learning assistance for 12 neighborhood students. One wall of the spacious interior doubles as the canvas for a mural by Julie Chang, a local artist whose work is featured at the $2.1 billion Salesforce Transit Center.

The scale is different. So is the setting. Both projects, however, send the message that we need to invest in the common good. And that message never goes out of style — especially during a pandemic.

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