Point
San Pablo /
Terminal 4
Point San Pablo is a regional landmark. With
Point San Pedro in Marin County, Point San Pablo defines the San
Pablo Straits separating San Francisco and San Pablo Bays.

The
flame of City of Richmond Terminal 4 burned brightly at Point San
Pablo early in the 20th century but has since flickered and burned
out. The whaling station -- the last operating in the United
States -- shut down in 1971 followed by closure of Pacific Molasses
operations and Paktank's vegetable oil and petrochemical product
business. No longer viable economically as a marine terminal,
most of the old tanks shown in these photographs have been dismantled.
Terminal 4 now lies derelict with piers rotting into the Bay.
Recognizing this blighted situation, the City Council adopted
a resolution making this a Redevelopment Area in 2005.

The
San Francisco Bay Plan of the Bay Conservation and Development
Commission (BCDC) calls for recreational uses at Point San Pablo
Terminal 4 when no longer needed as a marine terminal. The Metropolitan
Transportation Commission and BCDC officially recognized that
Terminal 4 no longer was needed as a marine terminal by removing
it from Port Priority Use in their Seaport Plan. The $210,000
Point San Pablo Peninsula Open Space Study ( link to land use
page map ) completed in 2005 by the City of Richmond, California
State Coastal Conservancy, Chevron, East Bay Regional Park District,
Muir Heritage Land Trust and Trails for Richmond Action Committee
recommends that Terminal 4 should be developed for recreational
use as the key to success of an open space plan for the Peninsula.
The question now is whether Point San Pablo will be quarried
away as has been done to Point San Pedro, sold off to the highest
bidder for a private development project or become a signature
regional park such as those operated by East Bay Regional Park
District at Point Isabel, Ferry Point and Point Pinole in Richmond
as called for in the San Francisco Bay Plan and the San Pablo
Peninsula Open Space Study.
Photos of Terminal 4 by Ellen Gailing |