Saint Mary's Square is a park and urban square across California Street from

Old St. Mary's Cathedral The Old Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception is a proto-cathedral and parish of the Roman Catholic Church located at 660 California Street at the corner of Grant Avenue in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Francisco, California. ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

's Chinatown, in the U.S. state of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

History

Chinatown, San Francisco, California (2013) - 37

Designed in 1957 by Robert Royston the square is a rooftop park located on the top level of a parking garage in San Francisco’s Chinatown neighborhood. At the time, rooftop gardens were promoted in the city by real estate developers as a means to maximize build able areas, and were most often sited on two‐story, above‐ground parking structures. being one of the first below ground parking structures, the rooftop garden was put into the designs as an afterthought. the current existing park was redesigned from the historic park that occupied the space prior to the implementation of the underground parking.

Design

Royston's design used a system of grids and multiple tones of concrete to draw attention from the geometry of the space, imposed on it by the virtue of being above a parking garage. by implementing low seat walls and the curved nature of the planting beds, he divided up the pedestrian spaces, generating a feeling of nature within the space. The park has access to the street via a wide concrete staircase on one end and an at-grade entrance at the other. An existing row of poplar trees was retained as backdrop for the park, and a sculpture of Sun Yat-Sen by local artist Benny Bufano provides a focal point for the space. The park also includes a playground and refreshment stand.

Prominent features

The park features several culturally significant implements to the surrounding area, being a central community hub for the Chinatown area.

The “Women’s Column of Strength”

A privately funded statue that was placed in 2017 after being approved by the Board of Supervisors. The memorial is controversial as the sculpture honors the comfort women who were women and girls forced into

sexual slavery Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a s ...

by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...

in occupied territories before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The mayor of

Osaka, Japan is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

stated he would sever the sister-city relationship with San Francisco as "the relationship of trust has completely been destroyed".

Statue of Sun Yat-sen

The

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

Beniamino Bufano Beniamino "Bene" Bufano (October 15, 1890August 18, 1970) was an Italian American sculptor, best known for his large-scale monuments representing peace and his modernist work often featured smoothly rounded animals and relatively simple shapes ...

is a 14 foot statue made of red granite and stainless steel, stands in St. Mary's Square. It is inscribed: "Dr. Sun Yat Sen 1866-1925 Father of the Chinese Republic and First President Founder of the Kuo Min Tang Champion of Democracy Lover of mankind: Proponent of friendship and peace among the nations, based on equality, justice and goodwill".

Memorial plaque

A memorial plaque in dedication to the Americans of Chinese ancestry who gave their lives for America in World Wars I and II. Reads, "We Salute these Americans of Chinese Ancestry who gave their lives for America in World Wars I and II".

Other points of note

A gingko biloba tree planted in March 2017, honors Chinatown activist Rose Pak. St. Mary's Square includes the former location of the Kong Chow Temple.

References

External links

* {{Chinatown, San Francisco Chinatown, San Francisco Parks in San Francisco Squares in San Francisco Odonyms referring to religion