Another
employer that could benefit from bringing ferry service back to
Richmond is Contra Costa County. The County has leased a 60,000
square foot facility on Hall Ave., about three blocks from the ferry
terminal. Facilities Manager Michael Jameyson said more than 300
employees of the county’s Employee and Human Services Department
who now work in Richmond and Hercules will move to the new facility.
That could happen as early as November 2001, according to Jameyson.
He said access to San Francisco via ferry would benefit workers at
the new facility, which has enough room for the department to
expand.
"We were very
disappointed to learn that the ferry was cancelled," said
Jameyson. "The potential that the ferry might be re-activated
would be a big plus. The more public transportation the
better," he said.
Jeff Leenhouts, a sales
associate at BT Commercial in Oakland, is the leasing agent for
commercial properties near the Richmond ferry landing. He said ferry
transportation to and from San Francisco would make it easier to
attract the companies the city wants to bring to Richmond.
"It would raise the
level of the types of employees. Companies would feel they could
attract employees (from San Francisco), and it’s always good to
mention ferry access within walking distance. It helps
tremendously," said Leenhouts.
Once a shipyard town, city
leaders are now dedicated to bringing what they call
"clean" businesses to the area to take advantage of
cheaper land and an available labor force. "We want to
diversify our economy," Mayor Corbin told Bay Crossings.
We have already attracted biosciences companies like Berlex
Biosciences and Dicon Fiber Optics Inc., and several other fiber
optic companies."
"Eight years ago we
began an economic renaissance," said City Manager Turner. We
are no where built out and land prices, while up, still are less
expensive." Turner said several thousand new homes, with price
tags ranging from $80,000 to $700,000 are being built or are
planned. "Those will help us recruit ‘clean’ companies and
provide housing for their staff and executives," said the city
manager.
Turner said people who will
eventually work at the companies who locate at Point Molate, a
former U.S. Navy fueling depot at the east end of the Richmond-San
Rafael Bridge that is expected to be turned over to the city within
a year, will also benefit from ferry service. How the area will be
developed still hasn’t been decided, said Turner.
Despite its renaissance,
Richmond is still a port town. Port Director Jim Matzorkis said the
city is building new facilities at the 200-acre port to handle
increased business, which could soon include automobiles arriving
from factories in Japan. "That puts Richmond back on the
automobile map," said Matzorkis.
Unlike neighboring port
Oakland, Richmond’s port specializes is handling
non-containerized, or bulk cargo including food oils. Matzorkis said
the new facilities will allow the port to double its present
operating revenue in the next two to three years.
Richmond is definitely a
waterfront city. Many citizens and city officials are working hard
to bring ferry service back to Richmond. Meantime new houses are
being built with price tags ranging from $80,000 to $700,000, job
training programs tailored to the employer’s needs, a downtown
transit village that includes a new BART garage and housing units, a
$35 million revitalization of the Easter Hill public housing project
and $50 million in bonds to repair the city’s 100-year old
infrastructure are signs the city may be a place to both live and
work. And the numerous signs erected by the state to direct
travelers to the ferry landing still stand at numerous locations
along I-80 and I-580, pointing the way to what many hope will once
again be an active ferry service.
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