San Francisco city officials celebrated the reopening this weekend of the newly renovated Palega Recreation Center in the city’s Portola District.
The 80-year-old park and recreation center, which received a $21.2 million makeover using funds from a 2008 parks bond, was reopened to the public on Saturday, officials said.
“It’s a pleasure to return to the neighborhood and witness this remarkable transformation,” District 10 Supervisor Malia Cohen, who grew up in the area, said in a statement. “I’m proud that our neighbors now have such a beautiful resource available to them and for all to enjoy.”
The project included renovations to the historic recreation center, children’s playground and athletic courts. The building was made more energy efficient, and graced with a new mosaic mural by Kelly Ording.
The mural, Windmills, references the neighborhood’s past as the center of the city’s commercial flower industry, which once dotted the area with windmills and greenhouses, officials said.
The nonprofit San Francisco Parks Alliance also contributed $40,000 to outfit the recreation center.
