To enlarge, click on the image to open in a new window.
Curbed SF's been taking a look at the Draft EIR for the America's Cup Race. In a word, Biblical. Although we haven't run into anything as thrilling as Genesis, the DEIR does weigh in at around 1600 pages divided into chapters and sub-sections. More Leviticus than Psalms, definitely. In the next few weeks we'll try to break it down.
It's a desire baffling to some, but San Francisco has long felt the need for a cruise ship terminal. Around the turn of the last century, it was supposed to be at the conjoined piers 30-32 and across the Embarcadero at Seawall lot 330 (at Bryant & Embarcadero) but the faltering economy got in the way. Now the plan is to piggyback it onto an America's Cup Village site at Piers 27-29, also joined with an area known as "The Valley" and currently the site of a soccer field, storage space for the floats and gear for the Chinese New Year Parade and surface parking. All of which will move to other venues. The current phased plan basically involves the replacement of the shed on Pier 27 with a new cruise terminal and the refurbishment of the shed on 29, with the end result coming after the race as terminal, waterfront park and event space, all paid for by the America's Cup Event Authority in exchange for a long-term lease. Even without the forty to sixty cruise ship berthings every year, the waterfront needs a location for visiting foreign ships, exploration vessels and mega-yachts. And like much of the America's Cup project, it's being planned by Aecom, a global mega-project consulting and design firm. For a quick idea of Aecom's scale and experience, check out the video of the World Cup in Johannesburg, one of their many projects. It's way beyond porta-potty rentals. Click on the image above to enlarge- and yes there is space for ten spectator's mega-yachts along with a food hall, just for starters.
Below, a very schematic look at the plan for the site, post-race, called the James R. Herman Terminal- "Jimmy" Herman was a longshoreman and labor leader. We think there will probably be naming opportunities for what's now the proposed 2.5-acre "Northeast Wharf Plaza" as well:
To enlarge, click on the image to open in a new window.
Homeland Security requires that the cruise ships be secured by a fenced-off area, so they've come up with one that will retract when not needed, opening up the planned plaza to the water:
Aerial view of the site, and the Village viewed from Telegraph Hill:
KMD/Pfau Architecture's proposed design for the Terminal:
More revelations from the America's Cup DEIR coming in the weeks ahead.
· Aecom [Aecom]
· World Cup Video [Youtube]
· The 34th America's Cup Races and James Herman Cruise Terminal and Northeast Wharf Project [SFPD]
Cruise terminal image via KMD/Pfau, all others via the San Francisco Planning Department Draft EIR
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