In the late 1980s, San Francisco was losing people to AIDS faster than survivors could grieve. KQED reports that a small group of residents, several with backgrounds in landscaping and architecture, began talking in 1987 about a place to remember them. The National AIDS Memorial says the idea was first conceived in 1988. That year, KQED says, the group asked the Recreation and Park Department for land. The city offered the de Laveaga Dell, a bowl-shaped valley in eastern Golden Gate Park that budget cuts and neglect had left overgrown and swampy.
Built by volunteers
Volunteers broke ground on Sept. 21, 1991, and KQED says it took three years just to clear the trash. The memorial says thousands of volunteers have since given more than 225,000 hours at monthly community workdays, which draw about 200 volunteers on average. KQED says the designers chose plants so something would always be in bloom.
A national memorial
In 1996, legislation led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi and signed by President Bill Clinton designated the Grove as the nation’s AIDS memorial. KQED says it remains the first and only federally designated memorial to people who died of AIDS. It receives no federal funding, and the nonprofit National AIDS Memorial covers its costs.
The Circle of Friends
KQED calls the Circle of Friends “the heart of the Grove.” It is a circular flagstone area where close to 3,000 names are carved, spiraling outward. Steve Sagaser, a senior program manager with the National AIDS Memorial, told KQED the Grove gets about 100 requests a year for new names.
Visiting
Wikipedia lists the main entrance at 856 Stanyan Street, with West and South portals on the surrounding park roads.
Nearby, see our Conservatory of Flowers story and our de Young guide.