Historical footprints and maritime artifacts have been built into the landscape in pleasing and intriguing ways, and the architecture is in keeping with the harbor’s history. Pathways are demarcated by concrete piles that once held up the piers of the Navy Supply Center, which served the Pacific Fleet from World War II into the 1990s. A tall open structure with latticed roof replicates the shape and size of an old Navy warehouse.

This park was achieved by creative collaboration among different groups. Port planners and community advisors worked with West Oakland community representatives, open-space activists, the Audubon Society, the city Landmarks Board and others to arrive at the park plan. “We spent the better part of two years working with the neighbors. It was time well-spent,” says Jerry Serventi, project manager for the park and now the Port’s director of engineering.

There is more yet to come. The Port is creating a saltmarsh, shallow water habitat, and five-acre beach, using seven million cubic yards of bay bottom dredged from the ship channel to accommodate vessels with 46-foot draft.

This fascinating place is hard to find, however, and visitors have been scarce. (Canada geese have discovered it, though, attracted by the grass). To get there on wheels isn’t easy, on foot even harder. On weekdays a bicyclist or motorist needs nerve to maneuver past huge trucks zipping around to pick up loads or deliver containers. An AC Transit bus, Number 13, runs through West Oakland to the park every hour on weekends only, and connects to BART’s West Oakland station.

Jim McGrath, manager of the Port’s environmental department, is eager to see the grass-covered amphitheater put to use, but believes that special shuttles may have to be provided, perhaps from Jack London Square. A map on the Port’s website shows that trails for bicyclists and pedestrians will be built from West Oakland. Along the shore, the Bay Trail links Middle Harbor Park to nearby Port View Park, where a children’s playground has been installed at the foot of a walkway to a recreational fishing pier. Like the 1,220-acre Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline at Oakland’s border with San Leandro, this park is managed by the East Bay Regional Park District.

—TB

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