San Francisco broke ground June 9 on a $73 million renovation of Portsmouth Square, Chinatown's 1.3-acre central park. The 240-foot pedestrian bridge over Kearny Street — completed in 1971, community-funded, designed by Chinese American architects — comes down in late July, over sustained objections from residents who say their opposition was never heard.

On Kearny and Washington, the fences went up Monday. A city crew broke ground June 9 at Portsmouth Square — Chinatown's 1.3-acre central park, bracketed by the Holiday Inn to the north and the Portsmouth Square Garage beneath the turf — beginning what is, at $73 million, the largest renovation in the park's history.

The construction bid, just under $48 million, went to Swinerton Builders through a competitive process launched last October; the remaining ~$25 million covers design fees, project management, permits, art commissions, and contingency. The design team is MEI Architects on the new clubhouse and SWA Group on the landscape.

What's going in: an elevated outdoor event stage, a children's playground with zodiac art sculptures and Gold Rush thematic elements, and an 8,300- to 8,500-square-foot "Zero Carbon" clubhouse — running on 100 percent renewable energy — with a commercial catering kitchen, large assembly area, multiple meeting rooms, and restrooms. Two public art commissions via the SF Arts Commission are in the works: a $340,000 outdoor sculpture at the Walter U. Lum Place and Washington corner entrance, and a $151,000 art wall on the clubhouse. Artists Cathy Lu and Jenifer K. Wofford were named in local coverage of Monday's ceremony.

The most visible near-term change arrives in late July or early August: the 240-foot concrete-and-brick pedestrian bridge over Kearny Street — completed in 1971, funded in part by community fundraising — comes down. The city and design team say its removal reclaims roughly 20,000 square feet of plaza and restores historic sight lines across the square. Not everyone has accepted that trade. According to Wind Newspaper, community members — including the widow of one of the bridge's original advocates — have opposed the demolition since the planning process began, arguing that the structure, designed by Chinese American architects Clement Chen and Chi-Kwan Chen, carries feng shui significance as a 54-year physical connection between Chinatown and the Financial District, and that their objections were "overlooked by the City." The opposition renewed calls on Mayor Lurie to reconsider even as Swinerton's crews arrived. The underground parking garage beneath the park is being retained, with seismic retrofit and waterproofing in scope; elevator access at Washington Street and Walter U. Lum Place is maintained throughout construction.

Funding is a patchwork: the 2020 Health and Recovery Bond; Transit Center Impact Fees; a Community Facilities District; the Downtown Park Fund; developer impact fees; a $6 million state grant secured by Assemblymember Phil Ting; and a $1 million grant from State Senator Scott Wiener. Mayor Daniel Lurie and City Attorney David Chiu attended the June 9 ceremony.

The project's planning timeline runs to a decade-plus: a feasibility study in December 2014, five rounds of community workshops in 2017 and 2018 involving roughly 20 organizations, an environmental review certified in January 2022, and a Commission vote that same month before bids went out in October 2025. The park received a prior renovation — three phases completed between 1987 and 2001 at a cost of $3.9 million — but Monday's groundbreaking is of a different scale.

Target reopening is mid-to-fall 2028. For the next two years, the square will be fenced. The pedestrian bridge, gone by August.