First the bulldozers came for the playground, then the north and south sides of Dolores Park. Chain-link fences choked the lawn, moving with each phase of construction.

But they’re finally coming down for good. Dolores Park, one of San Francisco’s most popular destinations, will fully reopen Thursday after a nearly two-year, $20.5 million renovation.

“It’s going to be a beautiful space when it’s completely finished,” said Robert Morris, who walks his dog, Ocho, around the park every morning.

“My only complaint is that it’s taking so long,” he said, eyeing construction workers shimmying through an opening in a fence. Groundwater, rain and vandalism added about six months to the project timeline. “Dolores Park serves a lot of different people and purposes, and it’s a great meeting space for neighbors and international visitors. It’s a real point of of pride for San Francisco.”

The renovation, paid for by the 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond, will take the park into the future. The 14-acre space was designed in 1905 and had never undergone a major renovation until now. But with nearly 10,000 people crowding the park’s knolls on weekends, the area needed a face-lift.

“People come from all over the world to see this park,” said Jacob Gilchrist, the Recreation and Park Department project manager for the renovation. “We went back and forth, and back and forth and had all kinds of crazy ideas. But everyone only asked for one thing, really, which was to not change too much. They didn’t want the historical identity of this park to change. We respected that.”

The first part of the project, the new Helen Diller playground, opened in March 2012. The renovation of the park’s north side was finished in June and includes new tennis courts and bathrooms, playing fields and free Wi-Fi. It also corrected irrigation and drainage problems that had caused large mud holes. The whole shebang was topped with six acres of Bermuda grass sod.

Improvements on the south side, include an ADA-accessible path, an overlook in the southwest corner facing the city skyline, off-leash dog play areas, a pissoir and a new restroom nestled into a hill, bringing the total number of toilets in the park to 27, up from four before the renovation.

More toilets a priority

It was an unsexy, but important, addition to the park, said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who helped drum up community support for the renovation.

“We are more than quadrupling the toilet capacity with the pissoir and the new restrooms,” Wiener said. “It is a very big deal for park-goers and neighbors. Before, we had a terrible-smelling restroom building, and people would get tired of waiting and go urinate on the neighbors’ houses. This addition was a high priority.”

On Thursday, workers added finishing touches: Painting a liquid vandalism guard in the new bathroom structure, spreading wood mulch and laying cement around park benches. Onlookers snapped photos on their phones.

But it remains to be seen whether the changes will help with the park’s trash problem. In 2014, workers collected 14,921 cubic yards of garbage, nearly 92 percent more than the amount picked up in Alamo Square. Already on Thursday, plastic water bottles and smashed Big Gulp cups littered the perimeter of the newly renovated area.

It takes time to change the culture, said Phil Ginsburg, Rec and Park general manager. He pointed to more than a dozen local businesses that have spearheaded a campaign, called “Love Dolores,” to prevent park visitors from backsliding into litterbugs.

“Love Dolores has to become the ethos around here,” he said. “That’s how we make sure the park is sustainable and stays clean. But it’s going to take time.”

Recycling plans

Larger trash cans, complete with recycling compartments, were placed at the perimeter of the park to encourage people to dispose of their garbage properly. On weekends, an Eco-Popup booth is at the park and volunteers help sort trash and recyclable materials, diverting nearly 68 percent of waste that previously would have gone to the landfill.

Before construction, an average of only 1,344 gallons of recycling were collected weekly, compared to 27,968 gallons afterward, Ginsburg said.

The most important thing, said park-goer Ian Fuller of the Castro, is to create a place where people want to gather. He walked his dog, Hyena, on Thursday and was excited to explore the new space.

“Living in a city so densely populated, it’s important to have a space you can go and stretch out in,” he said. “It’s truly a hub. It’s a beautiful space for the people and the neighbors. You can hear French and Italian and every other language being spoken here. This space is the great equalizer, and I think it’s fair to say that everyone loves it, and will probably love it more after the renovations.”

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @lizziejohnsonnn

Dolores Park

by the numbers

Cost: $20.5 million

Toilets: 27 and a pissoir, up from four.

Visitors: 5,000 to 10,000 on weekends, up to 3,000 on weekdays.

Recycling: 1,344 gallons each week before construction, 27,968 gallons now.

Trash: Up from 34,878 gallons weekly before construction to 55,936 gallons now.

Reopening: A glow-in-the-dark ceremony will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday.