Buchanan Mall Activation with the BEETS!

IMG_3379The CommunityGrows Fall BEETS (Band of Environmentally Educated and Employable Teens) spent Thursday October 1, 2015 working with Green Streets, Citizen Film and other partners to paint troughs which will hold plantings along Buchanan Mall in San Francisco. 
IMG_3401This project is part of a Buchanan Mall Activation Project which has brought together many neighborhood elders, youth and adults since March to discuss design and stewardship of the Mall. The Exploratorium, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, and the Trust for Public Land are also partners working with the community to redesign this under-utilized open space between seven public housing communities. IMG_3427The site will include planter boxes, memorial markers, youth-designed signs, seating, lighting, installations designed to inspire inquiry, and audio boxes with local history stories from African-Americans in the community. IMG_3408The Exploratorium translated the community’s design ideas into Activation elements and have begun installing them throughout the five blocks of the Mall. Completion should happen by the end of October. The Activation elements will be at Buchanan Mall for at least 12 months, after which the partners and community will discuss the appropriate next steps. The Trust for Public Land, with generous support from private donors, is the lead funder and project manager for the Activation. IMG_3433A Ribbon Cutting event is scheduled for Saturday, November 7th at 12 noon.
For more photos from the day, check out our CommunityGrows Flickr Photostream here.