Google: Mystery barges to showcase technology
Google Inc., after days of speculation about what it’s doing with a vessel floating in the San Francisco Bay, said the barge is part of a project aimed at showing off new technologies.
Google finally broke its silence about two barges on the East and West coasts that it’s been fitting with modular structures, saying in a statement that it’s hoping to use them “as an interactive space where people can learn about new technology.” The second barge being built is now floating off Portland, Maine.
The operator of the world’s most-popular search engine is expanding into new areas, including wearable computers, driverless cars and broadband communications, pushing it beyond the core business of sifting and organizing information on the Web. While some of the new projects haven’t delivered much revenue, Chief Executive Officer Larry Page has underscored the importance of new research in driving future trends.
New documents obtained Friday show that the barge builders are hoping to create “a curious and visually stunning” structure that will serve as both a floating studio and temporary exhibition space at waterfront sites around San Francisco Bay.
The barge will have a dozen sails, “reminiscent of fish fins, which will remind visitors that they are on a seaworthy vessel,” according to a proposal, obtained by the San Jose Mercury News, that was submitted to the San Francisco Port Authority by the shell company that owns the barge.
The four-story structure,
built from recycled shipping containers, will have more than 13,000 square feet of exhibition space, a large open atrium and catwalks that “will afford views down through the atrium, while a roof-deck will offer new sightlines of the spectacular San Francisco skyline and waterfront,” the proposal said.
Here’s the statement Google released Wednesday: “Google Barge … A floating data center? A wild party boat? A barge housing the last remaining dinosaur? Sadly, none of the above. Although it’s still early days and things may change, we’re exploring using the barge as an interactive space where people can learn about new technology.” In a follow-up, a Google spokesman said the company was referring to both barges.
Although vague, it puts to rest the early speculation about a floating data center. And it’s consistent with what has been heard in recent weeks from officials at the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, who said Google approached them a few months ago to ask about mooring one of the barges at someplace like San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center, and using it as a place for teaching about tech.
Details gleaned from the Port Authority documents, which were submitted to the agency in September by a shell company, By and Large LLC, that serves as the registered owner of the barge now moored at Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. By and Large is also the listed owner of the second barge in Maine
Google has been building a four-story structure in the heart of the San Francisco Bay for several weeks, but managed to conceal its purpose by constructing it on docked barges instead of on land, where city building permits and public plans are mandatory.
The East Coast barge, built in a New London, Conn., harbor in July was recently towed to Maine.
Coast Guard inspectors who visited the construction sites could not discuss what they saw. Lt. Anna Dixon said nondisclosure agreements were signed, but that those were not necessary, and that the Coast Guard, as a practice, doesn’t share proprietary information it sees during inspections.
If Google wants to operate an on-barge interactive learning center in the San Francisco Bay, the firm will eventually need to get permission from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
Whether such an “interactive space” would also be some kind of demonstration venue for Glass and other cutting-edge tech devices is unclear.
And whether Google can get a permit to park the barge anywhere in San Francisco Bay is also uncertain.
The giant floating barge at Treasure Island in the middle of San Francisco Bay triggered chatter among local media and technology watchers when it was noticed last month.
San Francisco port spokesman Renee Dunn Martin said the documents were submitted as a “preliminary proposal” but added that project backers haven’t returned with any more specifics. A spokesman for the National Park Service, which operates Fort Mason, previously confirmed that Google representatives had approached his agency but also held only preliminary talks.
Last year, Google proposed building a land-based “Google Experience Center” which would operate as a private museum and demonstration space as part of new $120 billion Googleplex headquarters it is building in Mountain View, Calif., where it is based.