A sinking treasure
Treasure Island is that 400-acre heptagonal bit of landfill in the middle of San Francisco Bay, which is tethered to Yerba Buena Island—the midway anchor of the Oakland Bay bridge—by a causeway.
Treasure Island was built for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition—one of the grandest world fairs in West Coast history and dominated by an 81-foot-tall sculpture of a goddess known as Pacifica, created by San Francisco’s foremost muralist and sculptor at the time, Ralph Stackpole. But just two years later, with war on America’s doorstop, the fabulous “walled city” was demolished and the island was recast as a naval air station. Today, Treasure Island is a windy, moody offshoot of the city. It’s also an affordable housing suburb with more than 2,000 residents. You’d think this must offer a terrific development opportunity, but the island is sinking, and at its northeastern end, the navy left the remains of an atomic warfare-training academy that used radioactive elements. The site closed in the 1990s but has yet to be cleaned up.
Info
Address Treasure Island Administration Building, Avenue of the Palms, San Francisco, CA, 94130, www.treasureislandmuseum.org, +1 415.413.8462 | Public Transport Bus: 108 (Treasure Island Rd Guard Station stop) | Hours Mon–Fri 8:30am–5pm| Tip On the weekends, experience the flea market and wine tasting on Avenue of the Palms from 11am to 4pm.
Still, the island has its attractions, including the great white administration building known as Building One. Constructed in 1938, it is a marvelous modern/deco-style relic from the exposition and you’ll note the odd traffic-control tower on the roof, which was actually once functional. The architects were William Day and George Kelham. Day is known for several hotels in San Francisco, including the Mark Hopkins, and Kelham designed the city’s old main library, now the Asian Art Museum. In 1989, the building stood in for the Berlin Airport in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In front of Building One there are half a dozen cast-stone statues representing different Pacific cultures. Inside, in the lobby, is a modest museum and notable murals. Behind the building you’ll find a marina and wineries that offer tastings on the weekend.
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