SF’s next tiled mosaic stairway was just approved to be installed without fees, and it’s a powerful homage to late 84-year-old “Grandpa Vicha” Ratanapakdee, who was killed nearby in a brazen morning attack in 2021.
San Francisco loves its tiled mosaic stairways, and the newest colorful tiled stairway is Glen Park’s Burnside Steps, which has its ribbon-cutting ceremony this Sunday, October 27. Oh, and October happens to be SF Stairway Month.
But there’s another new tiled mosaic stairway already in the pipeline, though this one's more of a memorial. On Tuesday, the SF Board of Supervisors voted to eliminate permit fees for the forthcoming Vicha Ratanapakdee Mosaic Stairway, a project to commemorate the 84-year-old Thai immigrant “Grandpa Vicha” Ratanapakdee who was brutally killed in the Anza Vista neighborhood the morning of January 28, 2021.
“This stairway is a community-driven project led by Grandpa Vicha’s daughter Monthanus and the Justice For Vicha Ratanapakdee Foundation,” said Supervisor Catherine Stefani, while introducing a measure to eliminate the permit fees for the project. “The installation will not only beautify the neighborhood, but also serve as a symbol of peace, a core value that guided Mr. Ratanapakdee’s life.”
The image above is not the final product, and is just a temporary painted version of what will be. The stairway is between O’Farrell Street and Terra Vista Avenue, which if you’re not familiar, is just across from the southeast end of the City Center shopping mall at Geary Boulevard and Masonic Avenue.
The tiled mosaic work will come from Bay Area artists Sarah Siskin and Thitiwat Phromratanapongse.
“As visitors ascend the stairway, they embark on a symbolic journey that parallels Vicha's own life and the obstacles he encountered,” the artists say in a statement. “The design and placement of the memorial have been carefully curated to evoke a sense of solemnity, compassion, and unity. It provides a dedicated space for contemplation, allowing individuals to pay their respects, honor Vicha's memory, and engage in conversations about the systemic issues that contributed to his tragic fate.”
As of right now, the stairway just looks like this. And while the forthcoming mural was already approved by the SF Arts Commission in May, and by the Planning Commission earlier this month, Stefani’s proposal that passed Tuesday will eliminate permit fees “estimated to be approximately $3,000 plus 7.5% of the construction cost for the inspection fee.”
There was already an honorary street renaming of Vicha Ratanapakdee Way in October 2022, though really, there’s no street there. The street signs are merely posted at either end of the stairway that connects O’Farrell Street and Terra Vista Avenue. But the honorary renaming, and the forthcoming tiled stairway mural, were still inspiring victories for the Justice For Vicha Ratanapakdee Foundation.
Though in terms of that actual justice for Vicha Ratanapakdee, well, the wheels of justice are moving shockingly slowly. The case was a lightning rod for supporters of the Recall Chesa Boudin campaign, though new DA Brooke Jenkins is not getting much further than Boudin ever did on this one. Boudin’s office had preliminary hearings on murder and elder abuse charges shortly after he was recalled in 2022, but more than two years later, the case remains delayed, and there is still no trial date set.
