What's New in San Francisco
Known as "The Miracle on Third Street," Pacific Bell Park
highlights the recent additions to the long list of San Francisco attractions.
Designed to be a “state-of-the-art old-fashioned ballpark,” the Park is the first privately
financed major league ballpark built in more than 40 years. Stunning views of the
surrounding city and Bay Bridge await fans. Home runs hit
out of the stadium over the right field fence splash into the bay at “McCovey
Cove,” named after Giants great Willie McCovey.
The Park was the catalyst behind the rebirth of San Francisco's South of Market area.
Metreon, a four-story shopping and entertainment center opened on the corner of Fourth and Mission streets in June 1999. This
350,000 square-foot complex, operated by Sony Retail Entertainment, includes 15 movie theaters, a 600-seat IMAX theater with 3D
capabilities, a Sony Style store, the Discovery Channel flagship store, the first Microsoft showcase store, a collection of small
restaurants under the heading Taste of San Francisco and interactive play areas based on Where the Wild Things Are by
Maurice Sendak and works by other popular authors.
October 17, 1998 saw the opening of the new $56 million Children's Center at Yerba Buena Gardens. The flagship attraction,
“Zeum,” is a high-tech arts and production facility for youth ages 7-17, a fitting addition to a neighborhood already christened
“Multimedia Gulch” by the Internet press. At the studios inside, kids and teens create multimedia art and hands-on creative projects
including filming video animations and producing a multimedia show complete with sound track and special effects.
In addition to Zeum and the Children's Garden, the rooftop is the site of an NHL-regulation sized ice skating rink, a 12-lane bowling
center and a 10,000-square foot childcare center. The entrance at Fourth and Howard streets houses the restored 1903 carousel
from San Francisco's long-gone amusement park, Playland-At-The-Beach.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a work of art in itself. Housed in a spectacular building,
SFMOMA offers the West Coast's most comprehensive collection of twentieth century art, in addition to an ever-changing program
of special exhibitions in painting, sculpture, media art, installations, architecture and design.
After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, San Francisco's Embarcadero Freeway was
removed, revealing a charming waterfront boulevard from China Basin to Fisherman's
Wharf. The Embarcadero is now a beautiful urban showplace with dynamic views of the Bay Bridge and many new restaurants
along a palm tree-lined pedestrian walkway. Fisherman's Wharf boasts new attractions and many renovated hotels.
The historic 100-year-old San Francisco landmark building that housed the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf for 35 years has
been replaced by a $15-million, 100,000 square-foot showplace, slated to re-open this summer. The expanded museum will feature
several new creations including Donny and Marie Osmond, Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet on the bow of the Titanic and
San Francisco's own Mayor Willie Brown. New additions to the complex also include the 33,000 square foot Rainforest Cafe
with a 15,000 gallon aquarium, live birds and a two-story indoor waterfall.
Crissy Field near the popular Marina District
will be transformed into a magnificent shoreline park by mid-2000. Tens of thousands of native plants are being reintroduced at
Crissy Field and dunes and other land forms have been sculpted, with the goal of making this national park site more beautiful and
useful. The Community Environmental Center at Crissy Field is scheduled to open in Spring 2001, offering programs that
address preserving the environment community workshops, cultural events, family outdoor adventures, youth educational programs.
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