Though some still adamantly protest the artificial turf fields at Golden Gate Park's Beach Chalet, the 30 opponents staging a sit-in in February are either dead or gone on to the next cause, it seems. Now the area is at last ready to see some action in early December. The four full-size soccer fields, new lighting, picnic tables, and pint-sized playground will welcome players of all stripes, save the artificial-turf truther types, on the 12th of the month the Richmond District Blog notes.

"San Franciscans have played sports at Beach Chalet since the fields were constructed in 1933," the City Fields Foundation recalls, though perhaps never like this. "The complex has now been completely renovated, tripling the amount of playtime on the fields to more than 14,000 hours annually and dramatically increasing public access," they add.

That increase in hours is a reference to the new lighting — before the renovations, the fields hosted a mere 4,738 hours of annual play. It remains to be seen if the NIMBY 311 calls, sure to come in any moment and linger late into each night, will negate the effort.

Though our historic drought has, for the most part, poured metaphorical cold water on complaints about astroturf, the grassroots anti-turf movement did see one victory this summer. California is still moving forward with a $2.9 million study regarding claims about the negative health effects of human contact with artificial turf.

Related: In Small Victory For Artificial Turf Foes, State Will Study Health Effects