SAN FRANCISCO – Olivia Crowther left her London flat last month to become a statistic in San Francisco.

The 23-year-old college graduate surfed suicide Web sites, bought a plane ticket for California and, at 9:24 a.m. on June 25, leapt to her death off the Golden Gate Bridge, at light pole No. 105.

Her body was retrieved from the water nine minutes later – one of the latest among at least 1,300 suicides at the majestic span since it opened in 1937.

The debate over what to do about the deaths goes back nearly as far, though the pace is quickening this week with public meetings over proposals to prevent such tragedies.

Will Bay Area residents favor costly suicide barriers on one of the world's most famous bridges? Will they want to raise the existing 4-foot rail? Hang nets? Or do nothing?

It is an emotional debate that raises questions about aesthetics vs. public safety, costs vs. benefits, preservation vs. change. For many, it's also about the value of iconic symbols vs. the value of human life – and whether engineering can save suicidal people.

"We can't leave a 4-foot rail on a 220-foot drop available to vulnerable people who are in pain and having a bad day or a bad week or a bad month," said David Hull, a San Francisco librarian whose daughter, Kathy, committed suicide off the bridge in 2003.

Hull said his 26-year-old daughter was emerging from a long depression. He rejected the idea that people thinking of killing themselves will find a way, no matter what. He believes research supports the view that many suicides are impulsive and, thus, preventable – especially at a site with the mystique and allure of the towering suspension span.

Restricting access to such a lethal magnet, he said, would reduce suicides – and might have deterred his daughter.

Grim statistics

The 71-year-old bridge has the dubious distinction of being the world's No. 1 suicide draw, though a recent 10-year study by the Marin County coroner found that most victims are from the immediate Bay Area.

Many bodies are never recovered. Many more people are talked off the bridge, or change their minds on their own.

In addition to the confirmed suicides, incident reports from Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, which owns and operates the bridge, show 478 others possibly intended to kill themselves between between January 2000 and May of this year.

Renewed discussion over barriers is the most serious to date, said bridge district spokeswoman Mary Currie, calling the newly released environmental impact report and design options "a milestone."

Currently, efforts to deter jumpers include emergency counseling telephones, foot and bike patrols, employee training and surveillance cameras.

The public has been asked to comment on six proposals, including one that would essentially leave things as they are.

Suicide barriers

Options include four designs for suicide barriers that would extend or replace the 4-foot-high handrail, using either vertical or horizontal steel rods or cables. Another alterative would construct horizontal nets about 20 feet below the sidewalk.

The designs – each estimated to cost from $40 million to $50 million – are available at www.goldengate.org for viewing and comment.

Public meetings are scheduled Tuesday in San Rafael and Wednesday in San Francisco.

The comment period ends Aug. 25, and the district's 19-member board, which includes representatives from six counties, could decide as early as October. Currie said no decision has been made on how the project would be paid for, should board members opt to proceed with barriers.

So far, it appears, the "do nothing" contingent is speaking up. As of late last week, 873 people had commented, Currie said, with more than 75 percent listing the "no-build" option as their first preference.

"I'm not sure barriers would do any good," said 31-year-old Derek Lubich of San Jose, a videographer who took a recent break at the Vista Point overlook at the bridge's north end.

Call The Bee's Marjie Lundstrom, (916) 321-1055.