Tea Houses to Totems: The Grand Finale of Our PBF Tour, Part 3

Our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group got lucky with the weather last Wednesday. The rain that started last weekend took a break. It was a sunny and beautiful morning for us.

The previous two Wednesdays we had visited projects that the Piedmont Beautification Foundation has supported over its 60 years of serving Piedmont. This Wednesday’s walk was our last to see PBF-supported projects. There was a strong turnout of 56 walkers and five K-9 best friends at the Exedra for it.

The morning started at the Exedra with PBF President Patty D providing an overview of PBF’s history and what we were going to see. At each location, a PBF volunteer would tell us about the project’s history and PBF’s contribution.

The first contributions, the Exedra Blue Vase, Exedra Plaza, and McGee Overlook, were right in front of us. Patty shared that this site was originally the location of the Piedmont Springs Hotel that Walter Blair built in 1871. After the hotel burned down in 1892, Frank C. Havens developed his Piedmont Park, a park café, a Japanese Tea House, and other attractions. After Havens died in 1918, the City purchased most of the park and hired Albert Farr in 1922 to design a City Center Master Plan. The Exedra and Community Hall were part of it and were dedicated in 1925.

PBF’s first Exedra renovation began in 1972 with Blue Vase Triangle plantings, major structural and decorative repairs, iron gates, and lighting. In 2000, PBF also made major donations to the development of the Exedra Plaza, which is at the backside of the vase. The McGee Overlook was added with the Centennial Oak Grove. The Plaza was a great background for the attached group photo.

We then went across the top of the park to the Tea House where Cameron W and former Piedmont mayor and PBF president Valerie M were waiting for us. Valerie and Cameron said this is not the original tea house that Havens built in 1907 as an attraction for his Piedmont Park. When the City acquired the land in the 1920s, the original tea house and many other park features were torn down to make room for the new Civic Center. In 1976 the Leander Redmon estate at Hillside and Magnolia Avenues was razed to build the new Piedmont Middle School. The estate had a tea house that was donated to the city and moved on a flatbed truck to its current site on a Sunday morning with many citizens watching.

Next, we went up to the top of the park and the Highland-Guildford Steps where Gayle Lambert was there to tell us about this project. On a rainy winter day before Covid, she and Ruthie McCloud were walking down this path and found the railroad tie stairs uneven and slippery with no handrails. They met Chester N, the public works director, and Nancy K, the parks and project manager, and a renovation project was developed. It was approved by the City Council in 2021 with $55,000 from PBF and the Piedmont Garden Club and $100,000 from the City. The wooden steps were replaced with colored concrete, landings, metal handrails, landscaping, six benches, and a small plaza.

We continued to Sheridan and Wildwood Avenues and up to the Hall Fenway, a scenic path that connects Wildwood and Crocker Avenues. Down the path was Sharon Hom ready to share more PBF history. This area once served as the right-of-way for the early 20th Century Key System’s #10 line streetcar, which ran through Piedmont until 1948. When the line was terminated, much of the right-of-way was sold for infill home developments. AC Transit even briefly used the land to park buses. However, Herbert Edwin Hall, a nearby King Avenue resident, convinced the City to obtain the property and he worked with neighbors to raise funds to acquire it in 1963. When PBF was established in 1964, it adopted the Fenway as one of its first major projects and raised more funds to complete its transformation. To honor Herbert Hall’s pivotal role, the path was officially named “Hall Fenway.” To ensure its long-term beauty, PBF has contributed $4,000 annually for plant maintenance.

We then went to Crocker Avenue and Crocker Park. Cathy G was at the Bear and Nursing Cubs sculpture in the middle of the park. Cathy explained that this sculpture was the work of internationally renowned sculptor, Benny Bufano, and was a gift from Jerry S. Mosher to the citizens of Piedmont. Its placement in the park followed four years of negotiations between the PBF, the Piedmont City Council, and the Bufano Society of the Arts. This acquisition, valued at between $40,000 and $50,000 at the time, was installed in 1980 by Rigging International, a company owned by Piedmont resident Denny McLeod. It is number nine in a limited addition of 25 Bufano sculptures and is composed of polished ground granite that weighs 2 1/2 tons. PBF, led by then President Norma Wells, raised $4,700 to help with installation and landscaping. The bears were restored and cleaned in 2000, and a wrought iron bench was renovated in 2009.

Cathy’s presentation ended our tours of PBF’s important contributions to Piedmont. We expressed thanks to Cathy, PBF President Patty D, the other tour presenters, and PBF for all that they have done for Piedmont. We made our return to the Exedra via King, Crocker, Wildwood, Sheridan, and Highland Avenues.

P.S. The full set of projects that the PBF has been a part of is available at https://piedmontbeautificationfoundation.org. It’s amazing to see how many ways the PFB has helped to make Piedmont more beautiful.