potrero view

September 2009

Efforts to Reclaim Bluepeter Building Focus on Economic Viability

By Lisa Tehrani

Friends of Bluepeter, a group of a dozen people committed to saving Dogpatch’s Bluepeter building from demolition, gathered together this summer to solicit community members’ views about how they’d like the facility to be used if it’s successfully preserved.  Located on Illinois Street, the sixty-six year old building is scheduled to be demolished, with the land converted into a park, under the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency’s Mission Bay Redevelopment Plan.  However, some community members would prefer to see the building rehabilitated for a public use, with open space planned around it.

The Redevelopment Agency and Port Authority charged Friends of Bluepeter with presenting an analysis of how the building can be renovated and operated without relying on City funds.  Early estimates indicate that restoring the building may cost more than $2 million.

While most of the meeting attendees were supportive of the effort, some were undecided and others in opposition.  Corrine Woods, who serves on the Redevelopment Agency’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC) and lives nearby, reminded meeting participants that Bluepeter isn’t considered a historic building, and that efforts to save Pier 70 should take precedence., calling the Bluepeter effort “a distraction.”  

Janet Carpinelli, along with fellow Dogpatch resident Vanessa Aquino, and Potrero Hill resident and Mission Bay CAC member Dick Millet, are leading the charge to preserve Bluepeter.  As chair of GreenTrustSF, Carpinelli pointed out that she works to protect, promote and secure quality green space that serves a wide variety of users. She thinks that Bluepeter can be a draw within the park, and serve as a link to the Central Waterfront’s maritime history.

San Francisco has seen its share of community-led efforts to save old buildings. Friends of 1800 Market was launched in 1997 to preserve the Carmel Fallon Building.  With support from 30 community members, it took more than five years to accomplish that task. The building was eligible for listing on the National Register for Historic Places, which helped the preservation effort.  After $1.5 million was raised, 1800 Market was eventually restored. The group’s founder, Tom Mayer, thinks that support from San Francisco Heritage and the community is essential in making any progress on the Bluepeter effort, but acknowledges that it may be more challenging given the Redevelopment Agency’s and Port’s role.

Equity Community Builders, a local real estate development firm, is conducting the feasibility analysis. Project manager Ted Lieser led the meeting, which was held at Kelly’s Mission Rock, with more than twenty attendees on hand. According to Lieser, “This study will help demonstrate whether or not the Bluepeter is worth saving from demolition, and how the building can become an asset to the community once again.” Participants voiced interest in making the building a museum, food court, fish market, recreation center, boat and maritime recreation center, among other things.

Lieser plans to present the feasibility analysis at this month’s Redevelopment Agency’s CAC meeting.  Although the study isn’t complete, some of the proposed uses will not likely be viable, with food service the most promising.   A mix of two or more activities might be the most desirable building use.  Architectural plans developed by Jackson Liles provide several design alternatives for the space, with an option to improve the existing mezzanine and double the amount of usable space from 6,000 to 12,000 square feet.

If the building is saved, it must comply with a public trust, according to David Beaupre, the Port Authority’s Master Planning Project Manager.  Under the trust, all port lands are owned by the people of California, and need to be directed towards water dependent uses or to attract people to the waterfront, and must serve regional purposes, limiting future Bluepeter uses.  Beaupre noted that several of the uses suggested by meeting participants wouldn’t be allowed under the public trust, such as a bookstore and community meeting space.

Lieser admitted that the project has some big hurdles to overcome, but explained, “We feel the building has a lot of potential, and that it has some historic significance. It is in a fantastic location and we think that it could activate the park it is within as well as provide a valuable community asset.”  According to Carpinelli, Friends of Bluepeter is waiting for the study’s results before moving forward with fundraising.


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