S.F. proposes Botanical Garden entrance fee SAN FRANCISCO

A man practices tai chi near the entrance to the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, March 24, 2009. A man practices tai chi near the entrance to the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, March 24, 2009. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close S.F. proposes Botanical Garden entrance fee 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Throughout its 69-year history, San Francisco's world-famous Botanical Garden has been a popular - and free - destination for workday strollers, weekend picnickers and tourists.

But under a city proposal it would soon cost residents $5 to enter the garden, which features exotic flora from around the globe.

Recreation and Park Department officials hope the fee will help close an $11.4 million budget gap projected for the next fiscal year. They also have imposed higher fees for city facilities like swimming pools and basketball courts, proposed installing new parking meters in parks, and laid off dozens of recreation center directors.

Jared Blumenfeld, the department's interim general manager, said the fees would likely never be repealed, but they would help ensure the garden remains "world class."

Established in 1940 with a bequest from philanthropist Helene Strybing, the Botanical Garden fills 55 acres on the south side of the park, running along Lincoln Boulevard between 9th and 19th Avenues. It features winding footpaths, ponds and benches nestled among 7,500 kinds of plants from around the world grouped mainly by their geographical origin.

The fee plan would offer a $75 annual household pass for unlimited visits for two adults and their children at the garden, as well as at the nearby Japanese Tea Garden and the Conservatory of Flowers, each of which already charges $5.00 for adults.

The garden would still have free access 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. daily and all day on the first Tuesday of each month. The Recreation and Park Commission is scheduled to vote on the fees April 16; the Board of Supervisors would also have to approve the proposal.

About a third of the fee revenue would go to the department's main spending account. The rest would be divided between a dedicated garden fund and the Botanical Garden Society, which for years has had a formal agreement with department.

Based in the County Fair Building near 9th Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard, the nonprofit society runs the garden's library and gift shop, organizes volunteer gardeners, raises funds for the garden and conducts daily tours.

The society would use its share of the new revenue to help bolster these current activities and pay for is new roles of staffing two ticket kiosks and mounting an aggressive marketing campaign to attract new visitors, Garden Director Brent Dennis said.

He estimated that if the fees took effect in September they would generate gross revenue of about $300,000 this fiscal year and about $900,000 the next year.

The garden has received as many as 410,000 visitors a year, according to a survey.

Garden visitors had mixed reactions. Francesco Siqueiros, an artist and publisher from Santa Cruz who had been jogging by brilliant yellow and green Jerusalem sage plants, expressed concern that the fees might separate people from the garden and a way of staying in touch with nature in a big city.

One of them would be Victor Kong, a retired San Francisco resident. Standing by a lavender-and-black Christmas Heather plant from South Africa, he said he would stop his strolls if he had to pay.

One of many young mothers who lives nearby and routinely visits the garden with her young children, Kim Soat said she wouldn't mind paying a modest fee. "This is our backyard," she said near a pink and green hedge named for Helene Strybing. "This is where we come to get out in nature."