Treasure Island (California)
| Treasure Island | ||
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| Waters | San Francisco Bay | |
| Geographical location | 37 ° 49 '24 " N , 122 ° 22' 14" W | |
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| length | 1.6 km | |
| width | 1 km | |
| surface | 1.6 km² | |
Treasure Island (German Schatzinsel ) is an artificially raised island with an area of 160 hectares (400 acres ) in the Bay of San Francisco , California . The island is connected to the natural Yerba Buena Island via a narrow isthmusand is thus roughly in the middle of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge .
history
The material for the construction of the island also came from the rubble of the great earthquake in San Francisco in 1906. It was built in 1939 for the Golden Gate International Exposition , a world exhibition at the time , and is located between San Francisco and Oakland . The Treasure Island Museum building is now one of the few structures that have survived from the time of the World's Fair and is now mainly used as an office building.
The island, which was built with funds from the American federal government, was originally intended to serve as an airport for the flying boats of Pan American World Airways . After the World's Fair, however, a United States Navy airfield was set up there after the city of San Francisco had offered Mills Field in exchange. The city agreed and built today's San Francisco International Airport in Mills Field .
During the Second World War , the island became part of the Treasure Island Naval Base , which primarily served as a training location for electronics and radio specialists. Airships of the Blimp Squadron 32 (ZP-32) were also stationed as an advanced base. On August 16, 1942, the naval airship L-8 took off there , whose voyage ended a little later as a ghost ship in Daly City . The island was also the main naval embarkation point for the Pacific.
Since 1996 Treasure Island has changed hands with the Presidio . The residential buildings that used to be used by military employees are especially popular with low-income residents and students. According to the census at that time, around 1,400 people lived on the island, which was completely enclosed by a promenade. In 2010 there were around 2,500 inhabitants.
In the late 1980s to the 1990s, the facilities on the island were also used for filming various films, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , Flubber and The 200 Years of Man .
A change of use for the public is planned for 2008. According to the Environmental Protection Agency , groundwater and air are contaminated with asbestos , plutonium and radium , which means that extensive environmental protection measures must be taken before conversion.
art
From April 2011 to 2015, the twelve-meter-high plastic Bliss Dance , which was built on Treasure Island , was exhibited on the western promenade. Previously, Bliss Dance was shown at the Burning Man Festival. After extensive reconstruction, the sculpture has been in Nevada, Las Vegas The Park since April 2016 .
Web links
- treasureislandsf.com - Information on Treasure Island and Yerba Buena (English)
- Geocache Treasure Island ☢ Ionizing Radiation on geocaching.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco (SFmuseum.net)
- ↑ SF Weekly: Ron Russell, Toxic Acres , May 24, 2006.