Established way back in 1856, 12.7 acres of what was a watering hole along a horse trail through San Francisco became Alamo Square. A year later it was designated a public park and has been a mainstay of the Western Addition ever since. Soon after, distinctive Victorian homes, including the "Painted Ladies" houses, were built around the perimeter, adding to the park’s appeal.

Photo by jjron / CC0

In the years since, you’d be hard-pressed to find a time when locals and tourists alike weren’t walking the park’s trails, snapping pictures, or relaxing on the grass. In May 2016, however, the park closed for much-needed repairs in what was supposed to be a nine-month job costing $4.3 million.

Now, San Francisco Parks and Recreation says the project’s completion has been delayed and so has the grand-reopening. The culprit, it seems, was all the rain the region has received in recent months.

The biggest part of the renovations was the installation of an irrigation system as well as construction of a wheelchair-accessible restroom and installation of new landscaping. Much of that work has been near-impossible to do as rain swamped the park for days at a time. In fact, work is so behind schedule that Parks & Rec says they won’t even know what their new timeline is until mid-April.

The good news is that if you’re visiting San Francisco and want to get that requisite photo of the Painted Ladies, you can still do so from a small patch of the park that has been re-opened.