88-year-old S.F. promenade at Aquatic Park pier closed
The decrepit state of the once-majestic Municipal Pier in San Francisco’s Aquatic Park has been obvious for at least a decade. Now, the 1,400-foot-long promenade is closed to the public — perhaps forever.
The rugged concrete structure was fenced off in late October so that the National Park Service could assess the seismic stability of the pier, which opened in 1934 and is part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. A sign on the fence says the popular 60-foot-wide pier is “closed until further notice” pending further inspection, but a two-sentence note on the park’s website declares it to be “unsafe for public use.”
The decision was made following a visual survey after a 5.1 earthquake in San Jose last month. There’s no indication that the earthquake weakened the pier’s stability, but park officials said it emphasized the potential danger if people were on it during a natural disaster.
“There’s been incremental deterioration over time, we know that,” said Dale Dualan, the maritime park’s public information officer. “The earthquake added to the urgency” of making a decision over whether or not to declare the pier off-limits.
The abrupt closure frustrates people like Fran Hegeler, who swims in the Aquatic Park cove most mornings and has spent four years working to rally support and funding to rebuild the pier and upgrade the larger park, a popular destination at the west end of Fisherman’s Wharf.
“People use it and love the pier more than you’d know,” said Hegeler, one of several park supporters who in August toured aides to senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla through the spacious park that slopes down from Beach Street toward the bay and was built by the federal government during the Great Depression.
“They fish, they bicycle, they take their dogs down there,” Hegeler said of the pier’s varied users. “The west side is battered, but that’s because it has done its job for almost 100 years.”
Also frustrated is Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who helped line up funds for a structural survey back in 2008 that revealed the pier’s sorry state. At the time, the estimated cost to rebuild it was $40 million. The current figure: $150 million.
“It’s a federal asset that always seems to be last in line,” Peskin said Monday. “It’s not the city of San Francisco’s property. All we can do is make noise.”
One reason the current state of affairs alarms supporters is that the pier isn’t simply an arcing promenade that, in Peskin’s words, “pops you right into the middle of the bay.” It’s also a breakwater that muffles the impact of tidal surges into the cove. That makes swimming and rowing more pleasurable — but also protects two historic 19th century ships that are moored in the cove and are among the maritime park’s attractions.
Dualan said the fencedoff status won’t necessarily move the pier up the priority list of the National Park Service. But he emphasized that the maritime park is no happier about its condition than are local residents.
“It’s definitely a high priority for us,” Dualan said. “This is a historic park, and the pier is a historic asset.”