which hadn't been done before. Ghirardelli Square featured many rarities at the time of its creation. For instance, Halprin designed all the street furniture and light fixtures, at a time when street furniture was not as common. Furthermore, a ramp was put in for William Wurster, who was disabled, another design choice rarity for the era. Lastly, Ghirardelli's underground garage was new: rather than having the garage connect to the road, shops were put at street level in order to promote social opportunities. The statue in Ghirardelli's Plaza, titled “Andrea,” was installed by artist Ruth Asawa. It features a mermaid with her children. The statue was designed to create a connection from the square to the oceanside beyond as well as figuratively bring the image of women into the forefront. One obstacle for the design was that Ghirardelli Square was at the foot of the Pacific Heights neighborhood. The Pacific Heights community wanted the giant Ghirardelli sign removed because of how bright it was at night. Rather than take down the sign, Halprin had it turned around to face the waterfront. After several years, a series of renovations had departed from Lawrence Halprin's original design intention, resulting in Ghirardelli Plaza becoming visually unappealing and less accessible. Pre-2017, a revitalization project was undertaken focusing on improving public access, promoting year-round activity, improving environmental sustainability, and improving the plaza's aesthetics. The project used Lawrence Halprin’s design archives and worked with the City of San Francisco's Historic Preservation Commission in order to combine Halprin's original planting and design approach with local plant species. The redesign won the Northern California ASLA Merit Award for Historic Preservation. There is some disagreement about how much Halprin's repurposed site design is originally his own. The project was initially conceived by Caree and Stuart Rose, who had pushed for retail located in reused environments, and in the 1940s, activists Jean and Karl Kortum had been arguing for the preservation of the waterfront by turning it into a combined heritage and retail center. Architects Lawrence Halprin and William Wurster were architects of Ghirardelli Square. Current stores on the square Bank of America Compass Broadway Coffee Culinary Artistas Elizabeth W. Gameday VR Ghirardelli Chocolate Manufact Ghirardelli Chocolate On The Go! Ghirardelli Chocolate Marketplace Gigi & Rose Gigi & Rose Children Imperial Parking, LLC Jackson & Polk Lola of North Beach Mashka Jewelry McCormick & Kuleto's Palette Pico San Francisco Brewing