Lake Merced proposal includes ropes course, playground and restaurant

Image: Courtesy of San Francisco Recreation and Park Department

San Francisco is moving forward on its plan to create an 11-acre park at Lake Merced after receiving a final environmental approval last month from the city's Planning Commission.

Why it matters: Despite its big footprint, the area has little recreational space for activities beyond running, golfing and rowing.

Details: The park, Lake Merced West, would take over the old site of the Pacific Rod and Gun Club, which operated from 1934 to 2015.

What to watch: The city's Public Utilities Commission plans to start knocking down old buildings and cleaning up the soil beneath them later this year, Aparton said.

By the numbers: SF has budgeted $3.8 million, funded by a 2012 voter-approved parks bond, for the grading and paving of the foot and bicycle paths, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

🙋🏾‍♀️ Megan's thought bubble: Lake Merced has been an underrated space for as long as I can remember.

Be smart: Lake Merced is the largest artificial lake in San Francisco and previously supplied drinking water to the city from the late 1860s to 1934, when the Hetch Hetchy reservoir became the city's water supplier, Hoodline reports.

What they're saying: Public open space makes people healthier and happier, both mentally and physically, Aparton said.

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