A TRIP TO TREASURE ISLAND

Recently a friend and I visited Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.  The main purpose of our trip was to have lunch at the restaurant run by the Job Corps, a training program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor  (http://treasureisland.jobcorps.gov/home.aspx).  The food was good as was the service, although there were perhaps a few too many, “If you need anything else’s ...”  The dining area was an old Navy building that, unfortunately, did not afford any of the outstanding vistas that you can find on the island.

After lunch we explored Building One, a beautiful art deco structure that originally was an airplane terminal serving the Pan American Clipper seaplanes that flew the Pacific.  Although the building has been well maintained, its huge lobby is an empty shell with just a small cubicle used by a security guard.  Minimal murals and information panels trace the history of the island from its creation using soil dredged from the bay, the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition, its takeover by the Navy as war loomed, and finally its decommissioning in 1996.  When I found out that the lobby had once been a museum displaying artifacts from various stages in the island's history, but was closed when the Navy pulled out, I was quite upset.  From talking to the guard I found out that the artifacts, at least, still exist and are in storage.  Fortunately an organization, The Treasure Island Museum Association (http://www.treasureislandmuseum.org/),is trying to get the museum re-established in its original location.  I found the Association's small office, grabbed a membership application, and mailed it off with my check.

We left Building One and walked to a dilapidated picnic area and then down some stairs to a beach on Clipper Cove.  It was quite peaceful and afforded a great view of the new bridge that will replace the eastern part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (http://baybridgeinfo.org/).  When finished, it will feature a self-anchored suspension span that will dramatically change the bridge’s appearance and make San Francisco an even more beautiful destination.

New Bay Bridge being constructed