Nostalgia & History > GGRM - Hunter's Point in SF Chron

SAN FRANCISCO
Shipping out the tenants
Artists, others must leave before toxic cleanup at Hunters Point

Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle
From train buffs and artists to skateboard-makers and the police SWAT team, the eclectic mix that shares space at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco has one thing in common: Their landlord, the Navy, wants them out.

The tenants learned last week that they have six months before their leases expire and the Navy embarks on a $80 million cleanup of the toxic site that since 1991 has been on the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List.

Those who enjoy the cheap rent and quiet isolation that come with working at the former World War II-era ship repair hub knew they would one day get their marching orders when the Navy decided it was time to turn the land over to the city.

But now that the time has come, the prospect of what's next is daunting.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," said 51-year-old painter Rhonel Roberts. "The solitude and serenity that we've come to enjoy here is about to change."

An artist community of 300 to 400 painters, sculptors, woodworkers and the like have made their studios in old Navy buildings at the shipyard.

It also is home to such tenants as the San Francisco Police Department's crime lab and SWAT team, the Golden Gate Railroad Museum, cabinetmakers, storage facilities and a company that makes skateboard parts.

The Navy, required by federal law to clean up the property before it can be transferred to the city, says it plans to excavate and test every sewer and storm line for contamination, and has no choice but to make the renters leave.

"It's a tough decision, but we don't see a way to move forward and dig up those lines and still have people out there," said Doug Gilkey, base closure manager for the Navy.

Many now face complicated moves and the even more complicated task of finding new digs.

"The letter states very clearly that everything shall be removed," said Jim Bunger, president of the railroad museum, which has been at the shipyard since 1991 and houses 57 train parts, including valuable locomotives and passenger and freight cars.

"Whether we can get it moved in the period of time they have given us is problematic," he said. "We are frantically searching for places and to make arrangements to move it all."

Local officials and Democratic U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi are working behind the scenes with the Navy to devise a plan that would allow most of the artists to somehow stay on site after the work is complete.

Ideas include moving most of the artists, now scattered around the 443 acres, into one area or having them leave in groups for three-week intervals while work is done near their studios.

But few of them believe they will actually be displaced for just three weeks. And about 40 artists whose studios are located on a portion of the base that once housed a dump may be permanently displaced, city officials said.

"This is a collective. It's really important for us to be together," said Sue Averell, 48, a painter who like many other artists there pays $1 per square foot each month to rent her small studio space. The community of artists is known for its biannual open studios, which draw about 25,000 people.

For many of the artists, those shows are where they earn most of their annual income, and not having an open studio in the spring -- or even having it in a different location -- could be detrimental.

"It's the major art event in the Bay Area," said Dimitri Kourouniotis, a 39-year-old painter who has rented space at the shipyard since 2001. "It's how we get represented in galleries and connect with the city."

Officials don't want that to change.

"I understand the artists' feelings of uncertainty and am committed to ensuring that the work is carried out with the least possible disruption to the shipyard artist community and their health and safety are protected," Pelosi said in a statement Friday.

In the late 1940s, the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was the country's leading location for the decontamination of ships that had been exposed to atomic weapons. It also was home to the country's foremost laboratory that studied atomic weapons and safety.

The shipyard was deactivated in 1974, but by that time, radioactive materials had seeped into the land and had been discharged into the bay, the Navy said. Tests and cleanups have been conducted over the years; the EPA says that, to date, only low levels of radioactive materials have been found.

The complex cleanup that would require everyone to be out of the shipyard by Feb. 15 involves shutting off the water, removing a sewage system that is more than 60 years old and testing the lines.

"Our main concern was safety," Gilkey said. "These lines go under the roads. They go under buildings. When we start digging them up, we're going to have trenches all over the base. Because of the safety, we needed to terminate those leases."

Michael Work, project manager with the EPA, said there would be no significant health risks for people who may move back after the cleanup.

"What we've found is some low-level radioactive waste or spills that would only pose an unacceptable risk if somebody was living with it on a day- to-day basis for a lifetime," he said.

The Navy handed over the first 75 acres of shipyard land to the city, which plans to turn the valuable real estate into commercial and retail space, parks, open space and housing, much of it for low-income families, in January.

After the cleanup, the Navy expects to transfer two more portions of the shipyard to the city in 2007 and 2008.

City officials say that while not everyone who wants to stay will be able to, the artists are guaranteed a place in the new community.

"There's a very strong commitment to this art community," said Michael Cohen, city director of base reuse and development, "not just in the short term, but they will be a permanent part of the redevelopment of the shipyard."

Of all the tenants out there Pelosi is most worried about the artist. Mabye she can help the GGRM to. The TV Show MythBusters who's studio is out there is getting the boot too.

The Navy is not doing any favors for Pelosi given her track record on military appropriations.

Folks,

Not to throw a wet blanket on this but, the folks at Golden Gate knew this was coming. This is no suprise. The City and the base reuse folks never made it any secret that the tennets at Hunters Point would, it some point have to move so that a comprehensive clean up of the area could take place.

Now, i fully agree that something has to be done, both for the base reuse and for the tennets. I am fully confident that the folks at Golden Gate have been working on the issue and that they will come to a satisfactory conclusion.

J.

Lets hope they have a game plan in place, or have been working on a long term plan, should make for alot of interesting equipment moves when the time comes.

J.Ferris Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Now, i fully agree that something has to be done,
> both for the base reuse and for the tennets. I am
> fully confident that the folks at Golden Gate have
> been working on the issue and that they will come
> to a satisfactory conclusion.
>
> J.

Reminds of the Pacific Locomotive Association's Castro Point Railway at Point Molate in Richmond, CA. It was also on US Navy property where there was always the threat of being evicted. It finally left, mostly to Niles Canyon where it is active today. Don't know what ever happened on that USN land. Are any rails still there?

Maybe Sam can hint as to whether the GGRM has any contacts to work with? Or, maybe somebody out there in the ether can pull some strings and have their very own RR museum.
If you're really connected you can have your own glow-in-the-dark drydock and really big crane, maybe on the surplus equipment list, or maybe not.

The RR museum down in Campo, Ca. had some of their equip stored on the USNAS Milamar, however all the tracks on that base have been torn out in the past 2 yrs

Westbound Wrote:
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> Reminds of the Pacific Locomotive Association's
> Castro Point Railway at Point Molate in Richmond,
> CA. It was also on US Navy property where there
> was always the threat of being evicted. It finally
> left, mostly to Niles Canyon where it is active
> today. Don't know what ever happened on that USN
> land. Are any rails still there?

I recall reading some months back that USN proposed selling it to City of Richmond for $1 as I recall, and the City would in turn let some Indian Tribe build a casino there. Lots of opposition to that idea. Don't know where the proposal currently stands.

Walt Freedman
Sausalito, CA

The Naval Weapons Station in concord has miles and miles of track that lies unused. Although it would be inconvenient for members of the GGRRM, at least the equipment would be in a secure area. they have a complete shop facility as well. Since it's Navy property, they would only have to deal with one government agency.

WP Mike

I think the city of Concord has other plans for the land since it was put on the BRAC list.

http://www.ci.concord.ca.us/about/cnws.htm

DaveE

DaveE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think the city of Concord has other plans for
> the land since it was put on the BRAC list.
>
> http://www.ci.concord.ca.us/about/cnws.htm
>
> DaveE

I think the city actually lobbied to have the Weapons Station put on the BRAC list so they could do something that would generate a ton of tax revenue.

No sir, not gonna happen...

Way back when the base was to be placed in caretaker status, I proposed a similar concept of preserving the historic rail corridor (Baypoint and Clayton) still intact on the base in the inland area as well as the concept of using the exiting railroad for low impact tours of the area.

The DOD simply said "No".

Sincerely doubt that attitude/opinion has changed in any way.