Alameda Launches Much Anticipated New Waterfront Park At with Kickoff Event

After years of work and development in the burgeoning Alameda Point Waterfront District, Alameda's Waterfront Park located on the former naval base gets its official launch on Saturday April 9 with the Waterfront Park Launch Fest.

The free, designed-for-all-ages event will bring together some of the Bay Area's most talented musicians and dance artists as Rhythmix Cultural Works and West End Arts District combine two of their popular arts events into a one-day festival to celebrate.

Scheduled performances include:

• AXIS Dance Company - The Oakland-based ensemble is the nation's premiere dance company made up of disabled and non-disabled dancers, who will be onsite with their new Artistic Director Nadia Adame.
  
• Crosspulse Percussion Ensemble - Part international drill team and part polycultural rhythm section, Crosspulse brings together synchronized movement, body percussion and world drumming.
  
• Fog Beast - Company Directors Melecio Estrella and Andrew Ward present the second iteration of their "performance journey," entitled These Lines Are Living that will include a special collaboration with the Shawl Anderson Youth Ensemble.
  
• 13th Floor - This ensemble of highly skilled performers adept at acting, dance, and acrobatics, is the next generation of high-end traveling interactive theater.
  
• Maze Daiko - There will be Drums! Maze Daiko's global inspiration with a wide range of percussion creates contemporary interpretations for Taiko.
  
• Batalá San Francisco - More drums! The Bay Area contingent of the international drumming organization Batalá Mundo, founded by Giba Concalves in 1997, play a combination of samba and reggae, an Afro-Brazilian genre of music developed in Bahia, Brazil.
  
• An Aeolian Installation curated by Thingamajigs - A creative collaboration of art, music and science come together in innovative sound sculptures that harness the power of the wind!
  
• Animate Alameda - Students from the Bay Area Music Project's Sound Lab class at Maya Lin Elementary school have composed an original piece which will be performed to by students from Encinal High School and Alameda High School.
  
• College of Alameda Dance - Modern dance and choreography for students of all ages with an emphasis on creating dances from various cultures including: Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Latino, and others.

Adults will find much to enjoy as will children as the design of the park allows for a variety of sight lines and engaging with the performers in comfortable proximity. In addition to the performances the food trucks Satay by the Bay, Kabob Trolley and Tuckers Ice Cream will be on hand. And those inclined can also drift away from the site to explore some of the emerging neighborhood or amble over to Almanac Brewing situated close by. Also not far and quite walkable is Spirits Alley where St George Distillers, Hangar 1 and Faction Brewing among others are located. Visitors should check websites for hours.

The challenges facing the development of the former naval base have been formidable. But a significant chapter comes to a close with the Festival and the debut of the waterfront park as it marks the end of the first phase of redevelopment since it closed in 1997. Not to mention the convenience of the new ferry terminal that in a nod to the area's storied history bears the evocative name of Seaplane Lagoon. The ride from the San Francisco Ferry Building is a mere 15 minutes at only $4.50 each way on a clipper card during the week. On weekends visitors and festival attendees should take the Main Street ferry where a free trolley runs from 1-7pm that will zip them across the island and drop them off at the Almanac Brewery, which is a short walk from the Waterfront Park.
Alameda Waterfront Park, evening; image credit: Maurice Ramirez Photography
The park itself sits on a promenade built on the former bulkhead built by the Navy. From that vantage point, you can see the ramps used to slide seaplanes into the water. John King, the Urban Design Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle broke down the design elements along with the thoughtful and good work of Alameda Point Partners who brought it all together in a recent article that can be found HERE.

Thanks to the work of local nonprofits like Rhythmix Cultural Works and West End Arts District and the support of the city, Alameda's art scene is flourishing. So much so that future plans call for the establishment of Radium, a 500-seat theater and arts center at Alameda Point. In the past, the areas around the park have been used in the television seriesMythBusters where they often conducted vehicle-based experiments. Most recently a two-mile freeway loop was constructed on the base for the filming of a lengthy car chase sequence for the movie The Matrix Reloaded.

"Ever since I arrived in Alameda in 2016, I've been drawn to Alameda Point and the Waterfront Park District," says Tara Pilbrow, Executive Director of the West End Arts District. "It's such a unique space and location. If we can place the arts at the center of its development it has the potential to become an incredible creative hub. Opening the Waterfront Park with a day full of art and performance seems to me to be the perfect way to herald that future!"

In the words of Amy Wooldrige, Recreation and Parks Director for the City of Alameda, talking about the completion of the park and the work of the Alameda Waterfront District, "This brings a whole other aspect to Alameda and really revitalizes the entire Naval Air Station."

More Information on the performers and events can be found at www.westendartsdistrict.org.

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