Alameda, a 23-square-mile island anchored in San Francisco’s eastern bay, is an unintentionally eclectic mix of boutique neighborhoods, mid-century architecture, Cold War decay, and soon, a Bay Area wave pool. The east side harbors boats and suburban comforts, while the western half is hard-scrabble remnants of a former Naval Base.
A Hollywood Backdrop and a Delayed Future
The abandoned naval base served as a convenient location for movies and TV. Star Trek, Matrix Reloaded, and MythBusters have all utilized the empty acres of concrete for filming. But that’s about it.
Despite decades of planning, redevelopment of the former base has been delayed by contamination and land-use restrictions.
A New Chapter for Alameda
Wedged between these two Alameda hemispheres, complete with views of the San Francisco skyline, is a section ripe for a surf park development.
Details About the Neptune Beach Surf Club
- Where: Parking lot at West Hornet Avenue and Skyhawk Street in Alameda
- How much: $50 million privately funded
- Planned opening date: 2029
- Developer / Operator: Pro Swell and Urban Mix Development
- Architect and Planner: William Duncanson, BAR Architects and Interiors
- Aquatics Engineer: Martin Aquatics
- Technology: Endless Surf
- Amenities: Wave pool, surf center, canoe club, camping/glamping, food & beverage, sailing center, shoreline trail, pump track, boat launch ramp.
Public Opinion on Surfing in a Pool
A TV news poll asked viewers if they would try surfing in a pool. The results?
- 52% said yes
- 32% said they don’t want to surf
- 16% said they will only do so in the ocean
You can lend your thoughts at an official project survey link here.
Interview with William Duncanson, BAR Architects
To get more details about the project, we spoke with wave pool and surf park design specialist William Duncanson. He works for BAR Architects in San Francisco.
How is this project different from most surf park projects?
NBSC: Neptune Beach Surf Club is different from most other projects in a number of ways.
First, NBSC epitomizes the Go Small or Go Home (GSGH) approach that I’ve been advocating for a number of years now. GSGH is informed by a number of factors including my focus on sustainability on the architecture side (e.g. less is more), an observation that many projects struggle due to their size and complexity on the financing side and our desire to make surf parks for the people (meaning approachable, inclusionary, affordable and Surf in terms of vibe).
There are multiple business models that can work depending on the market, site and numerous other factors, and larger mixed use surf parks with multiple business units, residential plays, and private club membership models all have their use cases. We are working on many of these project types, but we see GSGH as a way to focus on the core offering (surf) and strip out any big diversions that don’t add to the surf experience that we’re trying to deliver to the community.
And the Second Part?
Second, the path forward is in partnership with the City of Alameda. The surf park is proposed on City land in a currently underutilized and underserved area at the west end of Alameda. It used to be part of the Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS), a 2,800-acre naval base, which closed in 1997. The City of Alameda has been the steward of all this land for some time, and there is a vibrant and ongoing redevelopment effort to infuse new life into the area.
Third, Community Benefit is in our DNA. We are life-long surfers and consider ourselves part of the greater surf community. There is a long history of surfers participating in and contributing to their local coastal communities, and we believe that this project should and will meaningfully contribute to and uplift the local community in Alameda.
This will be in the form of infrastructure improvements that benefit the entire area, collaborating with local housing non-profits, partnering with local surf therapy organizations in a variety of ways, and working with SeaTrees on a global impact program.
Tell us about Alameda. How is it unique from other sites?
NBSC: It starts with the Bay Area, perhaps the most innovative, progressive, diverse, sustainably minded and surf-crazed metropolitan area on the planet. There are other MSA’s with more people in general, or more surfers, but nothing compares to the Bay Area as a comprehensive assemblage of factors to make it an ideal location for a surf park.
Alameda is at the center of this region, it is proximate to the Bay Bridge and I-880 (so has good access from all over the East Bay, North Bay, SF, South Bay and the Peninsula). Our two-hour catchment goes past Sacramento and down to Santa Cruz. Alameda has a tight-knit community that is focused on outdoor active and passive recreation.
And, the whole area already has an exciting ecosystem. This includes blue tech and green tech companies, sports complexes and food and beverage vendors. It’s hard to not find something cool happening anywhere you look in Alameda.
Our site has a great view of the bay. Our water-based neighbors would be the existing Community Sailing Center, Outrigger Canoe Club, Ocean Kayak and Stand-Up Paddle Board rental company, and a community soccer field. There is a public boat launch and a public beach and fishing jetty. We would be another recreational aquatic facility that amplifies the existing cohort of aquatics uses.
Educational Synergies and Sustainable Design
NBSC: We’ve already talked with the Sailing Center about offering Summer Surf and Sail camps, partnering with non-profits for access programs, and local food and beverage vendors to feed our guests.
The bay, just steps away, offers the opportunity to have real-world educational programs about marine ecosystems and marine engineering, wave propagation, shoaling, refraction, etc. The synergies are incredible. Moreover, we are excited about the opportunity to renovate the former Navy rec center into a new facility.
About 50% of the area would be dedicated to surf operations. The other 50% would be food and beverage (open to the public) and public restrooms to serve the park and a large community room for public use. The most sustainable building is one that already exists!
How will the park remain publicly accessible, with a wave pool at the center?
NBSC: Right now, the land that the surf park would occupy either isn’t improved for public use or even accessible to the public.
The Navy’s rec center has been closed for over 20 years. There is a dirt parking lot that is occasionally used by the public. This happens when there is a big event nearby (e.g. an outrigger canoe regatta or sailing regatta).
We would be increasing the capacity of the existing parking lot with the lost dirt lot. So, the amount of “access” to that area isn’t really changed from today.
The surf park will have a daily beach pass program, and we will provide discounts for Alameda residents. We would improve the facilities around the park with new public restrooms and expanding community spaces. This would increase the park’s overall capacity, programming and access.
How does the project improve the current area?
NBSC: I think I’ve touched on a lot of this already in terms of revitalization, benefit to non-profits, uplift of neighboring businesses and organizations. I’ll add that we’ve committed to facilitating a Master Planning effort for the area.
The City has been anxious to have a plan for this area so they can create a capital campaign and implementation timeline. They see us as a catalyst for this effort. Separately, this area just has so much potential. It is already a vibrant community with services, activities, and businesses which we think we can plug into and amplify that ecosystem.
We had a Community Engagement Event yesterday that was well-attended. There was so much enthusiasm for bringing surf park to Alameda. The prevailing sentiment is “this area needs some revitalization, and this is the perfect thing to do it”.
