The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) and other maritime players are against the Oakand A’s planned baseball stadium complex on the Oakland waterfront. They support that the Port of Oakland is the fifth busiest port in the US, and the non-industrial use of it will bring barriers for maritime operators.
Specifically, Okland’s A’s published a project to construct a 34.000-seat stadium on Howard Terminal, an area in Oakland’s inner harbour, which is for the time being used for container storage.
The future complex would be comprised of affordable housing, offices, restaurants, retail and commercial space and parks, which would help to bring in more daytime uses.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
On the contrary, the maritime industry of Oakland is concerned that the development would have negative effects on the port. Increased traffic could create difficulties for truckers entering and leaving other Port of Oakland terminals. Bright lights from the stadium could interfere with nighttime marine navigation, according to pilots.
In the meantime, Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (MEBA) stated that they’re concerned that Oakland would forever lose a part of its marine industrial base.
Adam Vokac, executive vice president for MEBA, speaking to local TV, stated
You never get to rebuild a marine terminal. Once you pave it over and put a stadium on it, you’ll never get that land back for maritime use ever.
Moreover, despite the maritime industry being against the project, the plan on its own faces challenges. For instance, the location is on the other side of two train tracks and one highway from the rest of Oakland, and the project’s backers have proposed to build a gondola to carry fans over both to reach the stadium – adding complexity and regulatory hurdles.
The freeway itself is already congested at rush hour, and fans would likely bring more traffic to the area, critics say. In addition, the terminal site has a long legacy of industrial uses, and its soil and groundwater are known to contain hazardous toxins which would require remediation.
Concluding, Andy Dolich, a former Oakland A’s executive, described the proposal as ‘fantasy’ in an op-ed in December, and he predicted that it would never be built.
