The play structure, commissioned by Friends of Sunset Dunes and in planning and construction for a year, was a top priority in community surveys conducted by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. Once approved, Shipwreck Cove was paid for through a fundraiser that came up with $800,000 from 1,000 individuals. Under a pilot program, it will be in place for one year under a permit from the park department, though it could be extended indefinitely.<\/p>\n
It could also be dismantled and removed if a voter initiative to reopen the Great Highway to weekday automobile traffic, Prop G<\/a>, passes in the Nov. 3 election.<\/p>\n Shipwreck Cove playground is shown under construction at San Francisco’s Sunset Dunes on Wednesday. (Lea Suzuki\/S.F. Chronicle)<\/p>\n “We’re going to continue to improve a park that the voters said they wanted,” said Lucas Lux, a San Francisco attorney and the founder of Friends of Sunset Dunes. The nonprofit works with the park department to activate and promote the pedestrian promenade.<\/p>\n “It has been a consistent theme from folks using the park that they wanted a place where kids could play and they wanted a place where they could learn about nature and the environment,” Lux said. “This does both.”<\/p>\n Three hundred feet long and 30 feet wide, the playground occupies the space between the pedestrian promenade and the bicycle path for most of the block between Judah and Kirkham streets.<\/p>\n The first phase of construction took place at Pier 19 on the Embarcadero, which houses the construction shop for Something Labs – a side project for a group of designers with day jobs at the Exploratorium.<\/p>\n The crew worked weekends and vacations to build the pieces of the ship from recycled cypress, eucalyptus and redwood trees that were cut down during city projects in Golden Gate Park. The on-site construction started in August.<\/p>\n “The design loosely plays out a story of rebuilding after a shipwreck,” explained lead designer Sam Haynor during a sneak preview this week.<\/p>\n Sam Haynor, director of Something Labs, talks about the play structure at Shipwreck Cove during a tour with Lucas Lux, president of Friends of Sunset Dunes, on Wednesday. (Lea Suzuki\/S.F. Chronicle)<\/p>\n The park department supplied the land and the permit. Ocean Beach itself supplied 3,200 square feet of sand, which was already at the site. The crew only had to put a border alongside it.<\/p>\n “It’s great not to have to add sand to a playground,” said Haynor. “It’s ideal sand, too, beautiful and fine local sand.”<\/p>\n To encourage people to dig in it, boxes are provided where people can store their shovels and tools for next time. Some digging tools will also be provided by Friends of Sunset Dunes. Lux’s 5-year-old son has donated tools from his own supply.<\/p>\n “Part of the plan was to make sand-play in a place that everyone can access,” said Haynor, noting the easy wheelchair access. Part of the surface is roadway pavement that will be covered by spongy, sea-blue fabric. Everything else is wood, sand and stone.<\/p>\n While the playground was being built, the paths that run along both sides of it remained open. Only a cyclone fence separates the two, and anyone who shows an interest has been invited in to help with the construction process. Public input won’t end when the playground opens. There is a QR code posted where people can log in and make suggestions.<\/p>\n “Most playgrounds, once they are installed, are static,” said Lux. “There is no better way to engage the community than to give them something to play on and let them give feedback, which the design team will act on.”<\/p>\n As the ship’s bow and crow’s nest have taken shape as access points for slides and seesaws, people walking the promenade have taken notice. There are picnic tables already reserved a month out for birthday parties, and a musical instrument called xylocove that anyone can play by hitting plates with a mallet, timed to the beat of the waves.<\/p>\n Ben Lugten, an engineer with Something Labs, assembles the play structure at Shipwreck Cove on San Francisco’s Sunset Dunes on Wednesday. The new playground was designed and built by Something Labs, a side project for designers with day jobs at the Exploratorium. (Lea Suzuki\/S.F. Chronicle)<\/p>\n “I love it. I’m excited. It’s going to attract more families to come here,” said Maureen Kosewic of West Portal, out walking with a friend. Kosewic’s own kids are too old to play here, but she’s looking forward to watching younger families.<\/p>\n “Doing something that is focused on kids shows belief in future generations,” she said.<\/p>\n Friends of Sunset Dunes had already completed planning and begun building parts for Shipwreck Cove when Prop G qualified for the ballot. Even if the measure passes, Lux said, the California Coastal Commission will have to sign off, which could delay removal of the playground for at least the year it is permitted. Everything in the park, from artwork to installations, is temporary, even a playground that cost $800,000 to build.<\/p>\n “I hope the families love it and the city will want to keep it,” said Lux. “We’re hoping to grow our future coastal stewards through play.”<\/p>\n Subscribe<\/p>\n There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. 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