Decimal-point gaffe leads to 1-year delay in San Francisco park reopening

The new turf and play structures at Mountain Lake Park. The new turf and play structures at Mountain Lake Park. Photo: Courtesy SF Recreation And Parks Photo: Courtesy SF Recreation And Parks Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Decimal-point gaffe leads to 1-year delay in San Francisco park reopening 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

On Thursday, there will be a grand playground reopening at San Francisco's Mountain Lake Park, after a $3.15 million dollar facelift had closed the Richmond District spot for two years. This should be a joyous celebration only hampered by the fact that the playground was originally slated to reopen more than a year ago, in May 2016.

And for this massive delay you can thank a misplaced decimal point.

According to the Richmond Review, a bid to rebuild the playground was submitted by CF Contracting to the Department of Public Works back in early May of 2015. But instead of putting forth the $350,000 bid that it intended, CF bid $35,000 for the project. Not surprisingly, the bid was accepted as the lowest bid for the work.

CF quickly noticed the mistake and appealed to the city to be released from the bid, but instead, was told it "would not be relieved from its bid and denied the request for relief from the bid."

From there, the legal wrangling between CF and the city went on, adding to any other delays that generally accompany major construction projects, especially when they're outdoors and run concurrent with one of the biggest storm seasons in years.

The Richmond District Blog points out that an eventual ordinance put before a Board of Supervisors committee calls for a settlement "of $110,000, plus an additional $10,000 to be paid if CF reaches substantial completion of the playground in early 2017."

While this settlement plays out, the neighbors will soon have their playground back. Kids can go wild on state-of-the-art play equipment and roll around on springy new turf. Others will be able to rest their legs on stylish benches while staring out over this bucolic setting in the southern Presidio.