Range of ideas from public on suggestions for Embarcadero
The underlying dilemma of San Francisco’s Embarcadero — an abundance of desires for using its historic piers but a scarcity of resources to make things happen — was on full view Tuesday at the city’s Port Commission.
Port officials described the range of the 52 responses to the “request for interest” received last month, while proponents of various concepts made their case. The commissioners who oversee the autonomous city agency, though, focused on how to move from ideas to implementation.
“It’s obvious this is an exciting opportunity with lots of interest,” commission President Kimberly Brandon told port staffers at the end of the session. “Your team has a lot of work to do.”
The unusual public exercise is part of a larger effort to restore and upgrade more than a dozen underused piers along the 3-mile Embarcadero — a bayside promenade that in the past 20 years has become a cherished Bay Area destination. However, there’s also a wish to provide space for activities that probably wouldn’t generate the revenues to bring the century-old structures up to current codes.
This goal was a priority of the advisory committee that spent the past three years discussing how best to update the port’s waterfront land use plan from 1997.
“We heard loud and clear from our working group that they want more piers open to a wider variety of uses,” said Rebecca Benassini, the port’s manager for the project.
Her presentation touched on a few of the ideas submitted, emphasizing they were not formal proposals and that no detailed financial information was required. The mix included miniature golf and inbay swimming pools, a variety of museums, and pitches from a pasta maker and a purveyor of Japanese street food.
Benassini also acknowledged interest from developers who might seek to devote much of a pier to private offices while including waterfront walkways and public activities.
“The reason we need these partners is that our capital resources are limited,” Benassini said of the port, which is financially independent and has limited access to city funds. “We can’t do these projects on our own.”
Port officials are aiming to launch a formal set of requests for proposals in the spring. That was one reason for Tuesday’s presentation at this year’s final port commission hearing.
One approach would be to focus on two or three piers that seem popular, ask for proposals and see what comes in. Another would emphasize desired activities rather than specific piers.
“One criteria might be, ‘We want an active recreational use,’ ” Benassini said in response to a question from port commissioner Gail Gilman. “Another might be (to tell would-be developers), ‘We bring certain categories of people to the Embarcadero already. Bring us a use for different members of the public.’ ”
Members of one such segment — the city’s tennis players — turned out in support of an idea floated by Alexandria Real Estate Equities and the Bay Club to convert Pier 29 into an indoor tennis facility.
“There’s an opportunity to reuse Pier 29 in a way that attracts national attention,” Steve Jamison, a longtime member of the San Francisco Tennis Club, told the commission. He said that the courts could be used by low-income city youth at times and there could be a Bay Area-focused tennis museum: “A combination of these elements would be a sensation if done right.”
Also on hand was Dianne Washington, part of a team that would like to see space reserved for what it calls “the International House of Prayer for Children.”
“There’s a great need in San Francisco, as well as the nation, for people to learn how to pray,” said Washington, a teacher in Marin. “It allows children to be who they are.”
People have until Jan. 31 to respond to the current batch of ideas. The commission will then decide what course to pursue — which would open up additional rounds of reviews if the commission does seek proposals for specific piers or uses.
“We’re still interacting with the public,” Benassini said. “This isn’t over by any means.”
John King is The San Francisco Chronicle’s urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron