Sue Bierman Park, San Francisco, CA

This new 5.3-acre park on two blocks was formerly the site of the Clay/Washington ramps with remnants of a landscape designed to buffer the freeway and allow pedestrian movement beneath the wide right-of-way it once occupied. ROMA designed a plan for park and recreational improvements to enhance its role as public open space which contributes more fully to the adjacent community and at the same time to the necklace of open spaces that have emerged and are developing along the Embarcadero. Construction of the park was completed in 2011 and the park named in honor of Sue Bierman. Subsequently, a children’s playground was undertaken for the Friends of the Waterfront Playground, a group primarily representing families and family interests in the downtown waterfront and adjacent residential neighborhoods. The playground is approximately 5,000 square feet in size and nestles into the existing park. The playground is surrounded by trees and landscape as well as pathways and is well integrated with the surrounding park. The park features play equipment for both pre-school (ages 2-6) and school-age (5-12) children and includes benches.