Nature and History and a Local Park Strike Out with Rec and Park Project
• • • • • • • • December 2025 • • • • • • • •
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department is planning a new project at the Crocker Amazon softball and baseball fields. This ‘renovation’ will destroy the natural beauty, remove most of the tall, historic trees, introduce pollutants into the soil, damage the historic value of a 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA) site, eliminate wildlife habitat, and deprive the local community of their green neighborhood park. When this project is completed, the majority of this park will be covered with fake grass, concrete, asphalt, and buildings. This is Rec and Park’s vision for our parks. Is it yours?
The Rec Park Commission has not yet approved the project, they may meet in December. Check this site for updated information.
The Planning Department has yet to do a CEQA review.
For 100 years, the Crocker Amazon ball fields have been a vital part of San Francisco’s history. Grass playing fields were created here by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s.
The site served as ball fields until the end of World War II, when the Navy installed a hospital for military personnel returning from the war. The Navy kept the original WPA shape and preserved the trees for the benefit of the recuperating personnel. After the war, the site provided housing for personnel until they could find homes.
In the late 1950s, the land was returned to playing fields. Throughout all this time, the outlines of the fields and the trees remained, an essential feature of this historic cultural landscape.
Today, the ball fields serve a dual purpose. They are used for seasonal ball games but primarily as a neighborhood park. Families bring their kids here to run and play; everyone enjoys the trees and the grass.
But nature, history, and a beloved community park are not important to Rec and Park. The Department plans to replace 18 acres of natural grass with plastic grass and paving. When added to the already artificially turfed soccer fields, this will result in more than three-quarters of this community park converted to plastic grass.
The SF Giants are partially funding the project. Hello – the Giants play on REAL Grass. They practice on real grass. Don’t they think that kids on the east side of SF deserve real grass? Were the SF Giants even given that option?”
(Trees to be removed are outlined in white; plastic grass areas are outlined in black).
The Department also wants to cut down over 120 of the trees on the site. These healthy trees provide habitat, shade, protection from wind, and a natural, parkland experience for the community. It will be years and years before any new trees could grow to match the trees that lend their grace to this site.
This rendering is what the same area will look like after the project has destroyed the existing trees. And the line of trees shown in the background? It will take years for new trees to grow in and make this feel anything like a real park.
The project also introduces more pollutants to the neighborhood. The plastic grass ‘carpet’ breaks down into microplastics, a concerning pollutant. (See the Keep Crocker Real website. for more information on this serious pollutant.) The eastern half of San Francisco has already suffered from environmentally damaging substances; isn’t it time to give those underserved neighborhoods a place to play that is pollutant-free?”
Rec and Park eagerly supported closing the Great Highway, claiming that what was needed was parkland, not cars. But the Department’s disdain for cars has suddenly disappeared. At Crocker Amazon, Rec and Park is not only cutting down trees for vehicle access but also expanding the parking lot from 81 to 145 parking spaces. What this tells us is that Rec and Park never really cared about the ‘evil’ of cars. This project is NOT for the benefit of those who live nearby and can walk or bike to the park. It is going to serve teams brought in from outside the neighborhood and take over this park from the people who live here.
The SF Giants are partially funding the project. Hello – the Giants play on REAL Grass. They practice on real grass. Don’t they think that kids on the east side of SF deserve real grass? Were the SF Giants even given that option?
You can do something to stop this fake-nature madness. Contact your Supervisor and let them know that you want to keep nature in our parks. Renovate the fields with natural grass and gopher wire underneath. Get Rec and Park to maintain our parks. Ask them to protect our kids from pollutants. And ask them to respect past generations of San Franciscans by protecting our city’s history for future generations.
Sign up to learn more and to be notified of upcoming hearings on this project: https://keepcrockerreal.com
Katherine Howard, ASLA, is an open space advocate living in San Francisco.
December 2025
