Item K-7 on the December 18 Agenda, sponsored by Councilmembers Butt, Bates and Marquez, will provide direction to the city manager to find a way to save the historic Riggers Loft – Paint Shop – Sheet Metal Shop, one of the five remaining historic buildings at Shipyard 3. A PDF of a PowerPoint that I will show at the City Council meeting is attached.

 

If you want to ask the City Council to make sure this building is preserved, click on “reply to all” and ask the City to please save the historic Riggers Loft – Paint Shop – Sheet Metal Shop.

 

The Riggers Loft – Paint Shop – Sheet Metal Shop was completed in August, 1942 to provide facilities for riggers, painters and sheet metal trades. It is constructed predominantly of wood frame with corrugated steel wall cladding except for the paint shop in the northwest corner, which has reinforced concrete walls. The building is 25 feet height at the parapets and encloses 27,000 square feet. The building, roughly rectangular with a notch in the northeast corner, is 132 feet wide by 220 feet long. The roof is supported by wood trusses.[1]

 

The Port of Richmond identifies it as Building 6. It is located immediately south of the large concrete General Warehouse Building and adjacent to where the Red Oak Victory is currently berthed.

 

This is one of the five surviving original buildings of Shipyard 3 and is a contributing structure to the Richmond Shipyard Number 3 Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Richmond Shipyards California Historic Landmark and the Rosie the Riveter World War II/Home Front National Historical Park.

 

The building is the only historical structure in Shipyard 3 that has not been maintained in functional condition. While it is clearly salvageable, it is greatly endangered and suffers from progressive damage with no current prospects for rehabilitation or even stabilization. Several years ago, when it was leased to Paasha, a roof drain became stopped up, and the roof on the northeast corner gave way, breaking the trusses. The damage remains unrepaired, and there are no plans by the Port of Richmond to make repairs.