Following on the renovations in recent years of Alamo Square and Dolores Parks, North Beach’s Washington Square Park is now taking its turn — specifically to upgrade a 65-plus-year-old irrigation system that was wasting more water than any other city park.

The park’s sprinklers were using three million gallons of water per year to water just one and a half acres, and now Rec and Parks is doing something about that, as SF Weekly reports. The whole project is expected to take six months, and it will include the installation of drought-tolerant plants, new trees, and more accessibility for the disabled.

The entire park won’t close in this case, only the lawn. The playground will remain open during the renovation, as will the restrooms — which were renovated in 2015.

As SF Weekly noted last year, when the renovation was first announced, there was some neighborhood pushback about where the homeless will go — given that the park is often a gathering and sleeping place for multiple individuals at night.

Both for those elderly residents looking for space to do their morning tai chi, and for others seeking open space, Joe DiMaggio Playground two blocks away (on Lombard between Mason and Powell) has been suggested by Rec & Parks.