Mayors Secures $81.6 Million for Shipyard Restoration
(March 31, 2009)
Funds Will Accelerate Cleanup of Toxics at Former Naval Shipyard, Create New Jobs
Mayor Gavin Newsom announced today that $81.6 million has been secured for the cleanup of the Hunters Point Shipyard in the upcoming Fiscal Year.
"This is a significant achievement for the entire City and in particular the Bayview-Hunters Point community who voted overwhelmingly last June to pass Proposition G to bring new life and opportunity to one of our most at-risk neighborhoods," said Mayor Newsom. "These funds will allow the City to continue to move forward with plans to transform the long abandoned shipyard from an environmental blight into a job-producing economic engine for all of San Francisco."
Over the last 6 years, Mayor Newsom, together with significant leadership from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Dianne Feinstein, has worked aggressively to get the federal government to fulfill its long-overdue obligation to adequately fund the cleanup of the shipyard. Almost half a billion dollars has been dedicated to the cleanup of the Hunters Point Shipyard since Mayor Newsom took office.
The cleanup funding is a critical element of the City's $2 billion economic recovery plan for the shipyard and Candlestick Point, which is expected to create more than 30,000 jobs and invest millions of dollars in workforce and training programs to assist area residents obtain career-building skills. The revitalization effort also creates more than 300 acres of new parks and open space--an important amenity the neighborhood currently lacks--and thousands of below-market housing units.
"At a time when construction projects have come to a halt all over the country, San Francisco is moving forward with the most important urban revitalization effort in the city's modern history," said Mayor Newsom. "The cleanup of the shipyard will directly translate to thousands of new jobs and affordable homes in San Francisco and provide a better future for the families and children of Bayview-Hunters Point." District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell said "the residents of the Bayview Hunters Point Community have been waiting a long time for the shipyard to be brought back to life--too long--and the cleanup of the shipyard is a critical step for us to finally realize those dreams."
Plans for the shipyard and Candlestick Point have already been endorsed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and adopted by 62% of San Francisco voters in June 2008. The project is proceeding with additional public hearings and completion of an Environmental Impact Report. The project should be ready to secure final approvals in less than a year.