Rehabs, Reuse, Additions and "Greening": A Look at Some of Oakland's Most Exciting History Resources and What's Being Done With Them

Rehabs, Reuse, Additions and "Greening": A Look at Some of Oakland's Most Exciting History Resources and What's Being Done With Them

Thursday, March 8, 2007
7:30pm
Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Avenue
OHA or AIA members $8. Non-members $10.

The Oakland Heritage Alliance and AIA East Bay Chapter will present a look at exciting preservation projects in Oakland. The Chapel is located at 4499 Piedmont Avenue. Here is a great opportunity to discover how some of Oakland's most important historic resources are being given new life. Presentations include:

The Fox Theater: its rehabilitation and new addition. Presented by Starkweather/Bondy Architects and ELS Architects.
Find out how the rehabilitation of the historic Oakland Fox Theater, one of the grand West Coast movie palaces. You'll also hear about plans for an addition for the Oakland School for the Arts that will add 45,000 square feet of program space, including classrooms, administrative offices, student services, and music, drama, dance and art studios to the renovated landmark structure.

The live-work conversion of Cotton Mill Studios (California Cotton Mills). Presented by Thomas Dolan Architects
Located on the site of the former California Cotton Mills Company, The California Cotton Mills Studios occupies the largest building that remains of the historic cotton mill. The 121,738 square foot, 4-story brick warehouse/storage building has been converted to 75 units of Work/Live space. The California Cotton Mills Studios serve as an incubator for local artists and small businesses and is becoming the hub of artists' activities in this diverse industrial neighborhood.

The rehabilitation and "greening" of the Municipal Boat House. Presentation by Murakami/Nelson Architects
Murakami/Nelson architects will describe the plans to restore the Municipal Boathouse (1520 Lakeside Drive) to its original condition, with a new program to accommodate public uses such as boat storage, a restaurant and a meeting hall. Sustainable design components will make this project the City's first historic LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) "green" building.

The restoration of the Cleveland Cascade. Presentation by PGA Landscape Architects.
PGA Landscape Architects will discuss current plans to restore the Cleveland Cascade, built in 1923, and designed by Howard Gilkey. The Cleveland Cascade was modeled after similar cascades in Italy and originally featured 20 concrete bowls in which water, illuminated at night by colored lights, flowed down, alongside plantings and two sets of stairs, their runs interrupted by several landings. Starting in 2004, dedicated volunteers have been working to restore the Cascade. In 2005, $300,000 of Measure DD funds were allocated for restoration of the Cleveland Cascade. At the same time, private funds were sought to fund initial design work. In November, American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Partners in Preservation program awarded a $50,000 grant to the project.