(rshsdepot) West Oakland, CA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From The Oakland Tribune.
 
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
Transportation Communications Newsletter
_http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/_ 
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/)  
 
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Link to photo:
_http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site181/2006/0327/20060327_074629
_0327trib_trainstation1.jpg_ 
(http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site181/2006/0327/20060327_074629_0327trib_trainstation1.jpg) 
 
 

Locals weigh prospects for train station 
Event space, charter school  among uses being considered for historic West 
Oakland site 
By Cecily Burt,  STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area 

OAKLAND — A group of West Oakland  residents has been working feverishly to 
figure out how to reuse a Beaux Arts  building at 16th and Wood streets in a 
way that both respects its history and  residents. 
Oh, and their plan has to make money, too. 
 
They've been at it since the Planning Commission a few months ago approved  
the first few residential projects that are part of the massive Central Station 
 development surrounding the historic Southern Pacific Train station. 
 
So far, the core community planning group has agreed the grand, main hall  of 
the Beaux Arts building should be rented out for weddings, parties and other  
events, with an on-site catering 
 
company providing the food. 
 
The group also agreed a charter school specializing in the arts would be a  
good fit for part of the space, perhaps the station's baggage wing or an  
addition on the back where the tracks are now. 
 
The school could use the main hall for performances, said Ben Golvin of  
Equity Community Builders, who was hired to help the community formulate their  
wishes for the station into concrete ideas, and then help them whittle away  
those that are not viable. One established school has expressed interest and a  
new school is also interested, Golvin said. 
 
The station reuse plan should come before the Oakland City Council for  
approval in late May, after which a request for proposals will be circulated to  
solicit businesses, entrepreneurs or nonprofits who want to rent space in the  
station. 
 
The process has come a long way. Some West Oakland residents fought  bitterly 
for community control of the station after developer Rick Holliday  bought it 
several years ago. 
 
They said the station should be turned into a museum to honor the  
African-American experience in West Oakland, paying particular homage to the  black 
Pullman Porters. Oakland was the West Coast headquarters for the  Brotherhood of 
Sleeping Car Porters, the first black labor union in the country. 
 
As part of the City Council's approval of the 1,500-unit Central Station  
residential development, the train station, now owned by BUILD, the for-profit  
branch of nonprofit Bridge Housing Inc., will be restored with public and  
private funds. Upon completion, the management or ownership of the building will  
be turned over to an entity that can ensure the station will be 
self-sustaining. 
 
The community has met several times to define not only the uses for the  
building but also the kind of operator it might have and the governance  structure 
that will oversee it all. 
 
Golvin said it took a while for the community to trust the process, and  they 
had to give up on some dreams to make the plan work. 
 
"We had someone from the library come and talk about turning it into a  
museum for the trains, or Pullman Porters, or West Oakland history, and I think  
people realized that won't happen, because people won't just walk by and go  
inside," Golvin said. "A community center was proposed, but that isn't  
sustainable. So people have come to realize that, and started looking at other  uses 
that can be sustainable. 
 
"The main hall should not be carved up," he said. "It should be maintained  
for event space, with a commercial kitchen and various uses that will support  
that space. Weddings, that kind of thing. So if it can be the home to a 
caterer  that has a built-in clientele, that would be a synergistic use." 
 
That is not to say that earlier wishes won't play a part in the restored  
station. The station probably will feature exhibits, pictures and information  
about the porters and their importance in West Oakland history. 
 
"The uses are not mutually exclusive," Golvin said. "There can be  
performances and events and educational things going on. It's a way to get what  people 
want, but in an entrepreneurial way rather than a purely public finance  way." 
 
He said he also expects that some potential businesses will be able to  
provide community benefits by linking their services with local schools or  
programs, such as the culinary program at McClymonds High School. 
 
Ellen Wyrick Parkinson, a longtime Oak Point resident involved in planning  
for the station, said many people were sold on the charter school concept and  
although she thinks it could be a good idea, she urged caution in the 
screening  process. 
 
She said she expects that a charter school at the station would be more  like 
a private school because that's probably where the new residents would send  
their children. 
 
"With all the new housing being built around here we should be building a  
new (public) school in West Oakland and we're not, so we have to think about  
who's going to benefit," she said. "The catering would be great . ... It would  
have to be a huge catering company. One that carried a restaurant with it 
would  do well. A museum would play a small part, just a few displays. Museums 
can't  stand on their own."

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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