Jon Sullivan

The entirety of Golden Gate Park could become the city's next historic landmark. The Chron reports that the Historic Preservation Commission will discuss whether it should turn the park into a historic district. The move is a backlash against recent actions on the park, like charging for entry into the botanical garden, writes the Chron: 

That added layer of review would check the power of a park department that many preservation proponents accuse of making up a budget shortfall by selling San Francisco's parks to the highest bidder.

"It is kind of a way of giving the park a little more oversight and taking some of it out of the political process," said Katherine Howard of the Golden Gate Park Preservation Alliance.

Eight buildings in the park are already historic landmarks, including the Beach Chalet, the nearby Dutch Windmill and the Conservatory of Flowers. Now, historic experts would go through the park to come up with more than 80 buildings, sculptures and monuments and 60,000 trees that could be deemed historic. 

If the park is deemed a historic district, the landmarks commission would have more say over major decisions related to it. The head of Parks and Rec, Phil Ginsburg, told the Chron he's not opposed, even though ideas championed by him prompted them to take action.

Aside from charging for the botanical garden, Ginsburg has other ways to turn the park into a revenue generator, such as bringing more vendors into the park.