Aquatic Park: Cultural Landscape Inventory, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, National Park Service
Luellen M, Provencher S, Warner L, Fitzgerald K, Koch K. 2001. Aquatic Park: Cultural Landscape Inventory, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 725358. NPS Pacific West Regional Office. Pacific West Regional Office/CLI Database
Aquatic Park, an area within San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, is located on San Francisco’s waterfront immediately west of the Fisherman’s Wharf area. San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park consists of the Aquatic Park Historic District, the Hyde Street Pier, a collection of historic vessels, and Building E at Fort Mason, where the park’s library and archives are located. Aquatic Park is an historic designed landscape covering approximately four acres in San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. This urban park is located within the city of San Francisco, California and encompasses parklands as well as a portion of the Aquatic Park lagoon. Development of the landscape was a collaborative project between the Federal Works Progress Administration and the City of San Francisco Department of Public Works and dates to the 1930s and 1940s. Aquatic Park includes a number of major historic features including three buildings designed in the streamline moderne style, ten structures, the Sea Scouts Building, Municipal Pier and the portion of the bay it encloses, a seawall, complex circulation patterns, large open grassy areas, and some of the most significant views of San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz Island. The main building at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is the Aquatic Park bathhouse, which was constructed between 1936 and 1939 as a joint project between the City of San Francisco and the federal Works Progress Administration. The Aquatic Park bathhouse currently serves as a museum facility that interprets San Francisco’s maritime past. The building is mainly used as exhibit space. In addition to the Aquatic Park bathhouse, parklands include a bathing beach, lagoon and Municipal Pier. The period of significance of 1920-1945 reflects the era of initial park planning; from the San Francisco Bureau of Engineering park development plan of 1920, through site grading and construction which ended in 1945. The district continues to fulfill its historic function as an aquatic recreation area, and the majority of the landscape characteristics contribute to the district’s integrity as an historic designed landscape. These include spatial organization, cluster arrangement, buildings and structures, circulation, land use, topography, and views and vistas. Only vegetation, small-scale features, and natural systems and features have lost their integrity and do not contribute as landscape features. As a whole, the cultural landscape of Aquatic Park is in fair condition, retains integrity, and contributes to the significance of the historic district.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Luellen, Mark; Provencher, Shaun; Warner, Len; Fitzgerald, Kathleen; Koch, Kimball
- Date of Issue
- 2001-09-18
- Publisher
- NPS Pacific West Regional Office
- Units
- PWR , SAFR
- Keywords
- Architecture, Art Moderne, Bathhouse, Black Point Cove, Community Planning and Development, defense, Historic Designed Landscape, Lagoon, Military, Municipal Pier, Recreation, Sala Burton Maritime Museum, San Francisco Bay, Social History, Victorian Park, Works Progress Administration, World War II
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 725358: Aquatic Park