Right now, it’s a ragged and underused patch of waterfront dotted with a few dilapidated structures, and carpeted with more asphalt and brown dirt than anything green.
As depicted in this artist’s conceptual rendering, the new Gateway Park would provide sweeping views of the striking new Bay Bridge East Span and opportunities to get close to the Bay. Courtesy of PWP Landscape Architecture
By Brenda Kahn
Published: August, 2010
The park will provide much-needed recreational facilities for the nearby neighborhood of West Oakland, and serve as a launch point and resting area for trips along the new East Span’s scenic bicycle and pedestrian path.
A recent community workshop at Caltrans’ Oakland headquarters gave the public a second opportunity to comment on the park’s amenities and overall style. “We are building a bridge to last 100 years, and we want an entry to Oakland that is worthy of that structure,” said Steve Heminger, executive director of the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), in an opening address to the 125 workshop participants. BATA is one of nine agencies steering the park design process.
The park will be stitched together from several parcels mostly sitting on the south side of the bridge touchdown, including land that will be opened up when the existing East Span is demolished. It is envisioned as a regional destination that will celebrate — and offer sweeping vistas of — the new landmark bridge while providing a window to the activity at the nearby Port of Oakland, with its towering container cranes.
At the outreach meeting, consultants laid out three different approaches to designing the park. The “Relax and Regenerate” option would emphasize the visual and natural regeneration of the site while minimizing new structures and visitors’ impacts. Habitat restoration would be the most important feature. Under the “Getting There” concept, the highest value would be placed on getting visitors to and through the park and onto the East Span bike/pedestrian pathway, and providing amenities mainly appealing to walkers and bicyclists. The “Great Destinations” option ratchets up the level of activity and amenities, and calls for marquee attractions such as a Ferris wheel, an aerial gondola that would take visitors from one end of the park to the other, a full-fledged transportation museum, and a destination restaurant and other eateries.
The goal is to develop a direction for the park by late summer — most likely a hybrid of the three general concepts examined so far. Besides BATA, other agencies involved in the Gateway Park Working Group are the East Bay Regional Park District, Caltrans, the California Transportation Commission, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the Port of Oakland, the city of Oakland, and the East Bay Municipal Utility District.
Learn more and sign up for updates at baybridgegatewaypark.org.
The park will serve as a launch point and resting area for trips along the new East Span’s scenic bicycle and pedestrian path as envisioned in this artists rendering. Courtesy of PWP Landscape Architecture
