Issue 183, Spring 2008 - Telegraph Hill Dwellers

Jack Early Needs a Gate KeeperBy Herb KosovitizIn 1962 Jack Early obtained a permit from DPWto landscape and maintain a portion of the stubend of Pfeiffer Street, East of Grant Ave. Earlyhad lived on the north slope of Telegraph Hill—alocation he referred to as “Alcatraz Heights”—sincethe 1950s. He had had an interest in trees and plantsdating back to his Sacramento childhood when hisfather had built him a greenhouse. Over the yearshe planted and maintained some 20 trees on PfeifferStreet, but he always had an eye on beautifyingthe strip of city owned hillsideat the top of his block. TheDepartment of Public Workswasn’t much interested. Toosteep and rocky for beautification,the department said. SoEarly signed a waiver absolvingthe city of financial responsibilityand undertook the projecton his own. He planted shrubsand trees, including a eucalyptusand a Monterey pine. For years,he hauled buckets of water upthe hill to feed the trees.In the 1980s, Cal Rossiobtained a Conditional UsePermit to build the condominiumproject at the Northeastand Southeast corners ofGrant and Francisco, whichabuts that Pfeiffer stub. Due to the efforts of THD,led by Early, a condition of that permit was thatthe Condominium Association develop and maintainthat uphill slope as a public park. Rossi providedold railroad ties for steps and the residentialdevelopment, now known as the Telegraph TerraceCondominium Owners’ Association (TTCOA) wascompleted. The landscaped stairway leading to aviewing platform at the top, was named for JackEarly, and opened in June, 1987.In May 1999, a revocable Agreement wassigned between THD and TTCOA, whereby THDassumed the responsibility of locking the gate at thePark entrance between sunset and sunrise, whichbrings us to our present dilemma. The saga of thelocking and opening of the gate, between 1987 andrecent times is not entirely understood, at least notby me. TTCOA seems to have assumed that responsibilityat one time; however, inrecent times they have not hadpersonnel available to do thaton weekends. A member ofTHD who lived nearby keptit open Saturdays and Sundaysfor awhile, but for some timenow it has been locked onweekends.Obviously, it’s importantto have this little gem of a parkopen to the public on weekends,but who’s to do it? Allefforts so far to find a willinggatekeeper are to no avail. Itwas suggested at a recent meetingof the THD Board that thegeneral membership should beadvised of this situation; thatperhaps some good ideas wouldsurface. Finding a willing THD member would bedesirable, however, that arrangement would alwaysbe temporary—people travel, move on, etc. Perhapsa person, or a security organization, could be paid toperform the service. Please email any helpful ideas toHerb Kosovitz at hkosovitz@sbcglobal.net.14 Issue #183 • Spring 2008