Years In The Making; Battery Bluff Opens In The Presidio of San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- It was only fitting on Earth Day for Presidio of San Francisco park officials to unveil the Bay Area's newest open space -- six acres of grass, trees and pathways called Battery Bluff with spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The park sits atop a tunnel over Doyle Drive -- a busy thoroughfare connecting the bridge and San Francisco's Marin District -- and has been in the works for years.
Among those taking in the views Friday was Jen Lashua, who lives nearby.
"I think it's fantastic," she told KPIX. "I think it's beautiful to look at, it opens up the views. I think it'll make a really nice walking path, I just notice the picnic tables back there."
The greenbelt paths were the brainchild of landscape architect Michael Painter, who never got a chance to see his dream come true.
"He went up on the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts and when he was up there here was this confounding, beautiful view that you couldn't ever see from anywhere because Doyle Drive freeway was cutting off what's now Crissy Field," Painter's widow Susan told KPIX on how the vision was born.
Presidio Trust CEO Jean Fraser said it took years and putting Doyle Drive in a tunnel to make the vision a reality.
"This is 50 acres of new parkland on top of one of the busiest freeways to one of the probably the most iconic bridges in the world," she said. "You think you can make something beautiful in a short time?"
Battery Bluff is a puzzle piece and for as long as it's taken to get to this point, there is one more piece to go. Another park that's 14 acres and called Presidio Tunnel Tops. It's set to open in mid July.