Treasure Island San Francisco

Closed as a naval base by the U.S. government in 1993, Treasure Island has had many false starts at redevelopment. The latest plans are the most ambitious: a community of 20,000 people--rather than the current 1,400--would live mostly free of automobiles. The windswept island would have windmills to generate electricity, and shopping and recreation would be within easy walking distance.

Many hurdles, permits, and other obstacles need to be surmounted to create the four new neighborhoods that are planned. In addition, there are outdated citizen advisory groups, the State Lands Commission, and other political minefields to navigate. However, if the thinking were grand enough, Treasure Island would be a green city. It would be a living, breathing community that recycled its own waste, and had an extremely convenient transit system. No cars would be needed, as Treasure Island faced the winds of its future.

A glimpse into the past shows that Treasure Island has not always existed. It is man-made, constructed by the New Deal Works Progress (later, Projects) Administration (WPA) between 1936 and 1939. The construction project involved dredging 29 million cubic yards of sand and gravel from the San Francisco Bay and from the Sacramento River Delta.

The gold-laden fill dirt gave the island its name. After the island was created, it needed a seawall to protect it from the tides, currents, and storms of the ocean. Building that seawall required 259,000 tons of rock. It is not easy to grasp such huge numbers, but the newly created island boasted 403 acres in size. It seems to have weathered the decades well.

The avowed purpose for building the island in the first place was to have a unique location for hosting the Golden Gate International Exposition. The Pageant of the Pacific opened in February 1939, just a month after the island was completed. After its amazing exhibits were closed for the last time in September 1940, the island was leased to the United States government. It became Naval Station Treasure Island in April 1941, serving as a major personnel processing center for the navy, until its closure. Today, it is host to the Treasure Island Yacht Club in Clipper Cove.