8 REPORT OF PARK COMMISSIONERS 



Park and the small squares and plazas of the city to some- 

 thing like the standards of beauty and convenience which 

 were noted prior to April of that year. The damage to Golden 

 Gate Park by reason of refugee occupancy after the fire was 

 estimated at $174,000, and it was then understood that the 

 Relief and Red Cross Corporation would pay that amount 

 to the city for the benefit of the Park fund, but no payment on 

 this account has been made. 



The annual cost of maintaining Golden Gate Park is 

 steadily increasing. Extension of the cultivated area to the 

 ocean on the west and to the limits of the reservation north 

 and south, renders the employment of more help absolutely 

 essential. There is likewise an unceasing demand for more 

 water, more loam and for more material and labor to keep 

 the driveways in first class condition. 



SEWERS HAVE CUT OFF OUR WATER SUPPLY 



The storm waters flowing from a large water shed south 

 of the Park are now carried away by the extended sewer 

 system, hence the supply of water for purposes of irrigation 

 is diminishing at the Ocean Beach wells and at the pumping 

 plant at the base of Strawberry Hill. 



In recent years Lincoln, Mission and Balboa Parks, and the 

 Parkway connecting Golden Gate Park with the Presidio 

 Military Reservation, have been placed under the control of 

 the Commissioners. There is an ever-growing public senti- 

 ment in favor of bringing the magnificent views afforded 

 from the crest of Buena Vista Park to the attention of resi- 

 dents and tourists. Desire for the up-keep of Lafayette, Alamo 

 and Union Squares, Alta Plaza, Hamilton, Mission and other 

 interior reservations never relaxes. The amount of money 

 allowed by the Board of Supervisors for the maintenance of 

 the parks for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1912, was hardly 

 enough to keep the reservations up to the ordinary standard 



