Treasure Island (California)

Coordinates: 37°49′N 122°22′W / 37.82°N 122.37°W / 37.82; -122.37

Treasure Island
—  Neighborhood of San Francisco  —
Aerial photo of Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island.
Treasure Island Location within San Francisco
Coordinates: 37°49′N 122°22′W / 37.82°N 122.37°W / 37.82; -122.37
Government
– Board of Supervisors	Jane Kim
– State Assembly	Tom Ammiano (D)
– State Senate	Mark Leno (D)
– U.S. House	Nancy Pelosi (D)
Area[1]
– Total	3.9 km2 (1.5 sq mi)
– Land	3.9 km2 (1.5 sq mi)
Population (2010)[2]
– Total	2,500
– Density	540.5/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
ZIP Code	94130
Area code(s)	415

Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland, and an emerging neighborhood of San Francisco.

Treasure Island is connected by a small isthmus to Yerba Buena Island. It was created in 1936 and 1937, from fill dredged from the bay, for the Golden Gate International Exposition. According to the United States Census Bureau, Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island together have a land area of 2.334 km² (0.901 sq mi) with a total population of 2,500 as of the 2010 census. The island is named after the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, who lived in San Francisco from 1879 to 1880.

Treasure Island is entirely within the City and County of San Francisco, whose territory extends far into San Francisco Bay and includes a tip of Alameda Island. The 535-acre (2.17 km²) man-made island used to be owned by the U.S. Navy, but was later sold to the city of San Francisco for $108 million as part of a redevelopment project. On June 8, 2011, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a 19,000 person new neighborhood to be developed on it over the next 20-30 years by Wilson Meany Sullivan, Lennar Urban, and Kenwood Investments.^[3]

Transportation

Treasure Island is connected to Yerba Buena Island, which has exits and entrances into and out of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge (I-80) in both directions. Travel between Yerba Buena and Treasure Islands and the rest of San Francisco is toll-free in both directions.

There is one bus line that serves the island: San Francisco Muni's bus 108. Before the Transbay Terminal was demolished, this bus line was the only Muni bus line to use the Transbay Terminal ramps, similar to the east bay Transbay buses.

When the replacement eastern span of the Bay Bridge is completed, it will carry a bikeway that connects Yerba Buena and Treasure Islands with Oakland.

History

Treasure Island was built with imported fill on shoals on the north side of Yerba Buena Island for the Expo in 1939. The connected Yerba Buena Island sits in the middle of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. Built by the federal government, Treasure Island was planned for and used as an airport for Pan American World Airways flying boats, of which the China Clipper is an example. After the 1939–40 World's Fair of the Golden Gate International Exposition, the island was scheduled to be used as an airport until the Navy offered to exchange Mills Field on the San Francisco Peninsula near the city of Millbrae for the island. The City and County of San Francisco accepted the swap, and the airport was built at Mills Field.

During World War II, Treasure Island became part of the Treasure Island Naval Base, and served as a training center for nuclear decontamination^[4], an electronics and radio communications training school, and as the major Navy departure point for sailors in the Pacific.

A map of the Golden Gate International Exposition

During the 1980s Treasure Island was utilized by the U.S. Navy for shipboard fire fighting and damage control training for Hull Maintenance Technicians, and other sailors. Treasure Island housed the "Buttercup" which was a static damage control trainer that was used for real time shipboard battle damage repair and control.

Additionally, the Hull Maintenance Technician Training School Phase "A" was trained at Treasure Island for Nuclear, Biological, Radiological and Chemical Warefare Training as part of their phase "A" and phase "B" training.

In 1996, Treasure Island and the Presidio Army Post were decommissioned and opened to public control, under stipulations. Treasure Island is now part of District 6 of the City and County of San Francisco, though it is still owned by the Navy. In 1993, the naval station was selected for closure, and Navy operations ended there in 1997. Some of the property was transferred to the Federal Highway Administration, the Labor Department and the U.S. Coast Guard, and the rest is open for development.

Problems have arisen over the determination of Treasure Island's fair-market value. The city's redevelopment agency, The Treasure Island Development Authority, valued the land at $13.8 million, and the city offered the Navy $40 million for the property.^[5] Two other estimates determined the fair market value at $250 million. However, in 2008 Congress offered the publicly held property to the city of San Francisco for nothing, under Section 2711 of HR 2647, drafted by Rep. Sam Farr.^[6]

Attractions and characteristics

The island has a raised walkway, circumscribing almost its entire bulk, which is popular for recreation. Sea lions can be observed in the water from the shoreline, and construction of the new eastern span of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge can be observed from the eastern part of the island.

The island used to have a gas station, but it is currently unused. It is served by a single Muni bus route, the 108 Treasure Island. It has a job training center, and is also home to San Franciscans and many college students who attend school downtown.

Building One is a Streamline Moderne-styled remnant of the World's Fair and is one of the few buildings remaining from the exposition. Originally intended as the terminal for the airport, it housed the Treasure Island Museum^[7] from 1976 to 1997. Today it serves largely as offices for The Villages, a private apartment rental agency. The former housing for officers and their families is rented out to the general public, pending redevelopment and reconstruction of buildings on the island, slated for 2012-2014.

A substantial part of the island is undergoing environmental cleanup by the federal government and the City of San Francisco has begun to attract commercial development on the island, most notably The Winery SF,^[8] a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m²) winery, tasting room and event venue along the waterfront when you first enter the island. With the development of commercial enterprises like The Winery and special events, the island is beginning to develop hundreds of thousands of visitors to it each year and has become a popular place for visitors stop and take photos because of its spectacular views of the City of San Francisco.

Treasure Island Administrative Building (portraying Berlin Tempelhof Airport) as seen in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The building was built for the Island's World's Fair.

Film studios

From the late 1980s and onward, Treasure Island's old aircraft hangars served as sound stages used in filmmaking and television productions.

In 1988, Treasure Island stood in for the Berlin airport in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Numerous pictures starring Robin Williams were filmed on the island, including Flubber, What Dreams May Come, Patch Adams and Bicentennial Man. Sigourney Weaver's character in the thriller Copycat lived in an impressive private compound on the island. Also filmed there was The Parent Trap and it was used in an establishing shot of The Caine Mutiny, the trial which ostensibly takes place on Treasure Island, though this is never mentioned or referenced in the film.

Treasure Island hangars served as the stage location for the "bullet time" visual effect in The Matrix and as soundstages for the film adaptation of Rent directed by Chris Columbus.^{[citation needed]}

For three years Treasure Island served as the site of Comedy Central's Battlebots television show. The offices and penthouse apartment sets in Nash Bridges were located on the island during the show's production (1996–2001). The island currently serves as base of operations for the prototypers in the Discovery Channel series Prototype This!.

One of the warehouses on Treasure Island served as a film setting for a NBC series titled Trauma.

Treasure Island as seen from Yerba Buena

Future development

Main article: Treasure Island development

In 2005, Lennar Corporation, one of the largest developers in the United States, proposed to build a self-sustaining city on Treasure Island. According to the San Francisco Chronicle,^[9] the proposal has 8,000 units of housing in several lowrise buildings, restaurants and a ferry terminal facing San Francisco. The plan also contains several midrise towers, four 40-story towers and one 60-story tower called the Sun Tower (formerly Treasure Island Tower). It also has an organic farm, a wind farm, parkland and tidal marshes. The proposal is designed to be as car-independent as possible, with the ferry terminal and basic goods within a 10-minute walk of the residences. A toll of $5 has been proposed to deter non-residents from driving onto the island. This is a change from the original plan which was more car-dependent and had only one highrise tower.^[10] The Navy has signed two "Findings of Suitable Transfer" or FOST documents which allow development plans to continue. The development is currently set to break ground in 2012.

The San Francisco Gaelic Athletic Association has recently leased land on the island to create athletic fields which will be used mainly for Gaelic football and hurling. The 3 fields will be home to future North American Championships as well as visits from Irish All-Star teams.

The University of California Golden Bears Rugby team will play their home games on Treasure Island in 2011 while California Memorial Stadium and its Student-Athlete High Performance Center is undergoing construction and retrofitting.^[11]

Hazards and risks

After the Naval Station closed in 1997, Treasure Island was opened to residential and other uses, but according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, the groundwater and air are contaminated with asbestos, plutonium, radium and other substances which are known to cause cancer and other illnesses.^[12]

Another risk of living on Treasure Island is the high risk of liquefaction during an earthquake. All of Treasure Island is built on landfill, and few if any of the buildings on the island were built to withstand a major earthquake, much less an earthquake magnified by liquefaction.

The Cosco Busan oil spill of 2007 happened just a few hundred yards from Treasure Island. The majority of the pollution was carried by the bay currents to other shores; however, cleanup crews spent several weeks cleaning the coast of Treasure Island as well.

Gallery

• 

  View of the island from Yerba Buena

• 

  Looking north towards the Marin Headlands from Treasure Island's western shore.

• 

  Looking south towards Yerba Buena Island and the Bay Bridge from Treasure Island's western shore.

• 

  Treasure Island Marina

The island offers spectacular views in good weather

See also

San Francisco Bay Area portal

• Islands of San Francisco Bay

References

Notes

1. ^ http://www.city-data.com/zips/94130.html
2. ^ http://www.city-data.com/zips/94130.html
3. ^ Kane, Will (2011-06-08). "S.F. approves Treasure Island plan". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/07/MNN71JQVU3.DTL. 
4. ^ http://www.bracpmo.navy.mil/base_docs/treasure_island/documents/enviro_docs/FinalTI_HRAFeb2006.pdf
5. ^ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/07/piracy-on-treasure-island/
6. ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2647&tab=summary
7. ^ "Treasure Island Museum Association". http://www.treasureislandmuseum.org. Retrieved 2008-07-20. 
8. ^ "The Winery SF". http://www.winery-sf.com. Retrieved 2010-12-02. 
9. ^ King, John (2005-12-15). "It's got high-rises, it's got organic gardens and it just might be a model for cities everywhere". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/12/15/DDG7DG7HVP1.DTL. Retrieved 2006-07-03. 
10. ^ "Treasure Island Development Authority". http://www.sfgov.org/treasureisland. Retrieved 2006-07-03. 
11. ^ "Cal Rugby on Treasure Island". University of California. 2011-1-19. http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-rugby/spec-rel/011911aaa.html. Retrieved 2011-1-21. 
12. ^ Ron Russell, "Toxic Acres", SF Weekly, May 24, 2006. Accessed 2007-07-27.

External links

• 1942 Naval Seizure controversy
• SF filming locations for Nash Bridges
• SFGov: Treasure Island Development Authority
• Yerba Buena and Treasure Island Website
• Treasure Island Community Website
• Treasure Island Music Festival
• Treasure Island Museum Association