The Panhandle Bandshell is Up!

Back in May I wrote about the controversy over setting up a temporary bandshell made out of recycled materials in the Panhandle. Well, according to this post in SFist, as well as the accompanying pictures, it seems that it indeed is up and functional, and anybody can sign up to do performances there; however (and I might be thankful for this if I lived in the area), NO DRUMMING.

More NIMBYism in the Panhandle

Today's San Francisco Examiner has an article on the latest struggle between those who want to create public arts and civic events, and those who are worried, worried, worried about "crowds," "noise," and "trash." In this case members of the Black Rock Arts Foundation's ScrapEden project want to create a temporary (important word, that) 30 foot wide, 18 foot tall bandshell made out of "used car hoods, computer circuit panels and plastic water bottles." The bandshell will be in place from June 1 until September 15, and will be used on a daily basis, from noon until dusk, for events like puppet shows and acoustic performances that are expected to draw "crowds" of about 25 people. The project has the support of the Recreation and Park Department, as well as Supervisor Ross Mirakami, whose district includes the Panhandle. So what are the objections from the neighbors?

“The noise factor is definitely a deterrent for anyone in the neighborhood,” said Maureen Murphy, who lives on Oak Street. “Although they said there would be no amplification, any time you construct any sort of a band shell … Things start out with the best intentions, but things get out of hand.

Wow, that's really a reasoned response - "but things get out of hand." I'm terrified of what might happen after a group of toddlers gets all riled up by a puppet show in the middle of the day. Ms. Murphy is also concerned about "safety," since the Panhandle is in a strip between two major streets, but if that's the case, maybe we should also ban dog walking, frisbee playing, and jogging, since you never know when any of those activities might take someone out in the street in a non-crosswalk area. She's also worried about trash - man, those crowds of kids and folkies really know how to mess up a place. Another neighbor feels that the Panhandle is too small an area for an 18 by 25 foot band shell, so she suggests putting it in Sharon Meadows, a space in the middle of Golden Gate Park that would completely dwarf the structure and take it away from serving those people who live in the Panhandle area.

In short, it looks like these people decided to just be reactionary against anything that might possibly, in some small way, for some short period of time, impinge on their concept of their neighborhood (and, no doubt, their property values). So instead of coming up with real reasons for why this should not be allowed, they're grasping at straws and trying to concoct worst-case scenarios. Let's hope that the Board of Supervisors is a little bit more rationale in making decisions about this.