Plans Unveiled for Pier 39-Style Park at WPH

Waldo Point Harbor Park and Pier takes a diagonal line from the intersection of Gate 6 and Bridgeway  |  post and research by Jenny Stein

Interactive exhibits will enliven the educational information made available to the swarms of visitors expected during peak summer hours

Salicornia is an edible marsh plant, commonly known as Pickleweed

Eelgrass, once so common it was dried and used as insulation, is now a protected native plant

Steel sculptures will soon grace the wetlands area to be developed just north of the Appleton

Lobster rolls, fish tacos, herring and pickleweed taster platters—what we can look forward to on a seasonal basis

It's hard to imagine this area being transformed into anything even remotely resembling Pier 39, but that's the plan

More tourists? or merely that we'll be able to contain the tourists that arrive

The view runs clear across to Tiburon and out to Angel Island  |  proceeds from these coin-operated viewers will help to subsidize the annual Fourth of July fireworks display

En plein air painters are already a common sight at what is soon to become the WPH Park and Pier

Who can resist a swan boat? Future plans are to switch the swans out for mini Van Damme paddle boats

Starting this summer, we can expect to see big changes in the area designated to become the new Waldo Point Harbor Park. The BCDC has signed off on the the final permitting of the WPH Park Lands and Public Pier, and with that given the okay for the Charles Van Damme Ferry Project to proceed with their plans to restore artifacts and build an interactive exhibit. As with anything, some give-and-take is to be expected. As much as the BCDC is loath to fill in additional lands, they are more than delighted to embrace inventive solutions that seek to counterbalance in-fill by providing the public with expanded recreational opportunities.

We can look forward to interactive educational exhibits (thanks to the folks at the Padua, Italy Botanical Institute who have offered to share their expertise), exhibits housed primarily in a sheltered gateway structure leading out to the pier, along with educational way stations positioned here and there along the pier. Visitors will be able to learn the difference between Eelgrass (Zostera Marina)—now a protected species but that was once so common it was dried and used for insulation—and Pickleweed (Salicornia)—an edible plant available in most European food markets as Samphire. During the late winter herring run, local chefs will be invited to concoct culinary dishes (in special purpose-built kiosks) to showcase the edible wonders of Richardson Bay. The summer season, though maybe only weekends to start, will see a rotation of Food Trucks offering lobster rolls and fish tacos. Ideas welcome.

Visitors will find a pair of steel goat sculptures “grazing” within a small patch of restored wetlands (just to the north of and abutting the Appleton) as a nod to our long and somewhat tortured journey in achieving the WPH Reconfiguration. Long term plans are to populate this area with more found-junk sculptures. There’s certainly enough available material sticking out of the mud around the Coop. It is already the case that painters have been drawn to the area, where they can be seen painting en plain air. These artists are perhaps the best chroniclers of the changing face of the nascent Van Damme pier. Dare I suggest merchandising in the form of postcards, t-shirts and totes?

At the very least, there will be a paddle boat concession located somewhere alongside the new WPH Public Pier. While multiple bids have been tendered, and as much as mini Van Damme paddle wheel paddle boats would be the more appropriate choice, swan boats (at nearly half the price) are what we’ll see. At least initially. On balance, if the swan boats keep the BCDC happy and manage to subsidize the other ventures, well, who are we to complain? Particularly when part of our take (in this give-and-take) comes in the form of special tubular structures—at the rounded end of the pier—that can be used to launch a fiery annual Fourth of July fireworks display.