Treasure Island

A view of San Francisco from Treasure Island

The U.S. military has bequeathed to us some of the most beautiful settings in contemporary America. Many military bases were established over a century ago to guard the coastlines. The population was sparse, and land was plentiful, so planners had their pick of sites that afforded the best vantage points for defenders to spot potential seaborne invaders. Military strategies have changed somewhat, but the spectacular views remain.

The towns became cities, which produced the familiar phenomena of congestion, pollution, and high-density development. The bases, which were laid out with plenty of open space between their quickly and cheaply constructed buildings, are oases in the midst of the high rises. Developers and local governments are licking their chops over the potential profits, but here’s hoping that elected officials have the wisdom, foresight, and intestinal fortitude to resist the temptation to seize short-term gains.

Some of the bases which I have visited :

• The Presidio in San Francisco, noted in the previous link, has a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay.
• Fort DeRussy in the heart of Waikiki Beach is surrounded by large hotels and is a reminder of the days before passenger jets brought waves of tourists from the Mainland.
• Fort Ord, nestled in the sand dunes of Monterey Bay, was the way station for GI’s heading into the Pacific theatre.

Despite living in the Bay Area for over 25 years, I had never visited Treasure Island and was grateful that a Little League baseball game finally gave me an excuse to go there. Treasure Island is a man-made island that bisects the Bay Bridge at the halfway point between San Francisco and Oakland. It was named for the gold-flecked landfill used in its construction during the pre-war can-do decade when San Francisco built the Golden Gate and San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridges. Treasure Island hosted the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition to celebrate the completion of the bridges and to herald San Francisco’s entrance onto the world stage. It became a naval base during the war and was returned to the City in 1997. Not surprisingly, competing visions for a property this central and potentially valuable have caused little to be done, and that may not be a bad result. © 2004 Stephen Yuen