City's waterfront sites vetted to host America’s Cup
By: Katie Worth
Examiner Staff Writer
March 9, 2010
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Mulling options: Pier 32 is one of several possible sites where The City could conceivably host America’s Cup venues. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner)
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The City is narrowing down the list of waterfront sites that could host the America’s Cup yacht race and hopes to have a very short list by the end of the month, Mayor’s Office officials said.
It doesn’t appear that any site north of the Bay Bridge — including future cruise terminal Pier 27 and Fort Mason — is large enough to host the international race, said Michael Cohen, director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
But the 13-acre site at piers 30 and 32, in the shadow of the Bay Bridge, may have a jump on other southern waterfront sites. The southern sites are more likely to have longer unbroken stretches of flat area ideal for Cup support venues. The site was explored as a potential host by billionaire Larry Ellison’s BMW Oracle Racing team four years ago, when it hoped to win the previous America’s Cup and bring the race to San Francisco, said Peter Dailey, maritime director of the Port of San Francisco.
In a meeting Tuesday, the Port Commission voted to do “everything possible” to bring the 34th America’s Cup race to San Francisco. The United States is slated to host the next event, after the BMW Oracle trimaran, sponsored by the Golden Gate Yacht Club, won this year’s event in Valencia, Spain.
Ellison’s team now has the privilege of deciding where the next event will be held. Ellison has said he hopes to bring the Cup to the Bay Area.
On Tuesday, Golden Gate Yacht Club Commodore Marcus Young said the team will explore every option in San Francisco before considering other cities in or outside the Bay Area.
Dailey said the Port has spoken with the Coast Guard and the San Francisco Bar Pilots Association and both have given a thumbs-up to the idea, despite the constant traffic of commercial vehicles in the Bay corridor.
“It’ll be a little like running a drag race on a freeway, but it can be done,” Dailey said.
The preparation work four years ago may give piers 30 and 32 a leg up on other candidates, including Treasure Island, Pier 48 — just south of AT&T Park — and Pier 80, a cargo facility on the waterfront at Cesar Chavez Street, Dailey said.
But piers 30 and 32 are not without obstacles. In September, the tire of a heavily loaded truck punched through the aging piers’ deteriorating concrete slab. Since then, the Port has banned heavy vehicles and events at the piers, though it still allows parking during ballgames and other events.
Dailey said it could cost more than $50 million to shore up the entire substructure of the decrepit piers, but that could be “doable” either through a public-private partnership or another creative financing scheme.
Treasure Island Development Authority spokeswoman Marianne Thompson said the island’s staff has yet to receive any calls about the possibility of hosting the event there.
“We really, really want it here, but we haven’t heard from them,” she said. “It’s a little bit like waiting for a prom date.”
Staff Writer John Upton contributed to this report.
Cup venues in San Francisco
A list of sites that are being considered for the next America’s Cup, and their obstacles:
Piers 30 and 32 13-acre site in the shadow of the Bay Bridge would require tens of millions of dollars to restore
Treasure Island Transporting people to an America’s Cup village could be complicated
Pier 48 Just south of AT&T Park; may be too small
Pier 80 Part of an existing cargo terminal; some seismic stability concerns
Pier 27 Future site of cruise terminal; may be too small
Fort Mason On northern waterfront; may not have the necessary contiguous flat area
Sources: Port of San Francisco, Golden Gate Yacht Club, Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development
