Planting
the Seeds
Our Story
A Public Space Model Realized
A mixture of open space, cultural facilities, children’s facilities, a convention center, and commercial development, Yerba Buena Gardens is viewed as a model for how to improve public space and urban areas, while building community.
One-of-a-Kind Community and Destination
The guiding vision for Yerba Buena has been that of a genuine neighborhood: a diverse mixture of uses and constituencies co-existing in a new downtown community. The project, built in a once-challenged neighborhood, was integrated into the city, both architecturally and programmatically. An inclusive process resulted in a series of diverse projects being completed that did not ignore the bottom-line economics or the aesthetics of the project or neighborhood goals.
Yerba Buena Gardens invites activity for people of all ages and backgrounds. Its central garden, the Great Lawn, is the public heart that ties the complex project together and connects it to the surrounding blocks. It also serves as a location for over 100 cultural events each year. The site includes a bowling center, a skating rink, teen-oriented cultural facilities, and creative programming at the Children’s Creativity Museum. An extensive ramp and fountain system, capped by an overlook, connects surrounding restaurants and cafés to the green and performance areas and to the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial below, and to Metreon and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. SFMOMA’s main entrance across Third Street aligns with the Gardens’ attractions.
Blossoming for Decades
Yerba Buena Gardens was four decades in the making resulting from the determination of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (SFRA), community advocates, committed builders, old and new arts institutions, and civic stakeholders.
Some key moments in the site’s evolution included:
1976
Mayor George Moscone embraced a civic vision to combine the construction of a new convention center for the city’s vital visitor industry with the creation of a “public gardens” for all San Francisco residents
1993
to 2012
SFRA oversaw management and operations
After the state dissolved SFRA in 2012, the state-authorized local successor agency, the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII), assumed the SFRA role
1993
The Esplanade and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts opened
Initial Moscone expansion was completed
1995
to 2016
SFMOMA opened adjacent to Yerba Buena Gardens
It completed its beautiful expansion in 2016, making it one of the largest museums in the world for modern and contemporary art
1998
The central children’s area, including an ice rink, childcare center, and the Children’s Creativity Museum, opened
1999
Metreon opened
2012
to 2019
The community, in collaboration with the city, worked tirelessly to create a new model for the governance, management, and operations of the gardens: the Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy
2019
The City approved the Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy’s 42-year lease
This change completed the shift in overall management and ownership to a collaborative partnership between the Conservancy and the City of San Francisco: the next era in the successful management of the Gardens
The Moscone Convention Center expansion was completed