Richmond: Mayor slams choice for new location of historic World War II ship
By Karina Ioffee kioffee@bayareanewsgroup.com
Posted:   07/01/2015 03:50:05 PM PDT | Updated:   36 min. ago
RICHMOND -- Mayor Tom Butt on Wednesday slammed a decision by his fellow council members to move the SS Red Oak Victory, a historic cargo ship and one of the central landmarks of the Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park, to a different location at the Port of Richmond.
The decision was reached during the closed session portion of Tuesday's City Council meeting and not reported publicly but confirmed by several council members on Wednesday.
Under the new agreement, the historic ship will be moved 100 yards away -- roughly the size of a football field -- to Basin 1. Council members said they approved the move in a 6-1 vote Tuesday night, with Butt dissenting. Butt had lobbied to move the ship to Basin 5, closer to its current location and the national park sites.

The SS Red Oak Victory ship docks at Kaiser Shipyard No. 3 in Richmond on July 19, 2014. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
The 71-year-old ship, iconic of the type of vessel built in the Kaiser shipyards during World War II, is now berthed next to war-era structures at the Port of Richmond, on Canal Boulevard, where visitors can get a peek into a part of the city's home front history. But after a new winery signed a lease to move into the Riggers Loft and asked that the ship be moved to open up Bay views, the city has been locked in negotiations about how to do so.
Butt, who was instrumental several years ago in securing funding to renovate Riggers Loft, a former warehouse that is part of the Kaiser Shipyards, said the move would impact visitors' experience of Richmond.
"The Red Oak will now be isolated in a location that does not have adequate parking to support its growing number of popular events, and visitors to the Riggers Loft Wine Company and the whirley crane (another historic structure) will be forced for years to look at the vast collection of rusty metal shacks and junk equipment that (tenant) Foss (Marine) has assembled at Basin 5," he wrote in an email blast to his constituents.
But Councilman Jael Myrick defended the decision, saying that moving the ship to Basin 5, the option favored by Butt, would have displaced Foss and cost Richmond up to $300,000 at a time of financial hardship for the city.
"From a pragmatic standpoint, it was the simplest and most cost-effective decision," Myrick said. "And it still leaves open the option to move the Red Oak to Basin 5 at a later date."
Kevin Brown, president and senior wine maker at Riggers Loft Wine Co., said Realtors showing him the venue told him that the historic ship could be relocated to make room for his winery, which wants to organize events at the venue.
"The view was not a minor aspect of us signing the lease," Brown said, adding that his company had waited many months for the city to reach a decision on the land deal. "It was included in our lease agreement."
Brown added that his company offered to pay $5,000 to tow the Red Oak to a new spot and had no preference about where the ship would be moved.
"We're trying to be a good neighbor," he said.
In a Facebook comment, Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles said she was dismayed to learn that Butt had canceled an upcoming mayors' conference, scheduled at the Riggers Loft Winery this November, as retribution for not getting what he wanted.
"That action by this current mayor has got to be bad for business once the word gets out that Mayor Butt is a bully who uses his influence to intimidate people and businesses," Beckles wrote. "That's not what Richmond is about."
Melinda McCrary, executive director of the Richmond History Museum, which owns the SS Red Oak Victory, said she was happy the city had finally reached a decision about moving the historic ship.
"We think the winery will be a good partner and is going to attract a whole new audience, which is huge for us," McCrary said.
Tuesday's decision was reached during a closed session meeting, and the results not reported out by the city attorney, a move criticized by several council members. City Attorney Bruce Goodmiller declined to speak on the record about the action in an email and did not return numerous phone messages left for him.