upcoming Oakland events

After a relatively quiet week, there's just way too much interesting stuff going on this week in Oakland. Friday is June 1st, so that makes it First Friday, with the ever-expanding Art Murmur and other events like Jack's Night Market and the return of Dancing Under the Stars.

Party for a Purpose - Wednesday, May 30, 5-10pm. 50% of proceeds go to the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

SoundWaves at JLS Thursday, May 31, 5:30-7:30pm. Live music performance at Jack London Square. This week's artist is Tim Hockenberry. (free)

ACCFB Empty Bowls - Thursday, May 31, 6-8pm. Annual fundraising event for the Alameda County Community Food Bank. An evening of art, nourishment and advocacy. ($25+)

Oakland Indie Awards - Thursday, May 31st, 5:30-10:30pm. Come celebrate local businesses and artists at the annual Oakland Indie Awards. Lots of Oakland favorites have been nominated, from Actual Cafe to Uptown Body and Fender, and Annalee Allen to Tina Tamale. Read more at Oakland Local. ($10)

Great Oakland Public Schools End of Year Party - Friday, June 1, 5-8pm. Join Great Oakland Public Schools in celebrating teachers and others who make Oakland schools better. Next to Jack's Night Market. (free)

Jack's Night Market - Friday, June 1, 6-10pm. A fun evening market at Jack London Square, featuring food, fun, vendors and more (free)

Temescal Art Hop - Friday, June 1, 6-9pm. First Friday fun in the Temescal. Collect stamps from 8 or more participating galleries and businesses, and get a chance to win prizes. Read more at Oakland Local. (free)

Dancing Under the Stars - Friday, June 1, 8:30-10pm. The return of the popular event kicks off with salsa dancing. (free)

East Bay Open Studios - June 2-3 & 9-10, 11am-6pm. The annual East Bay Open Studios art tour. Check out and support artists all over Oakland and beyond. (free)

Jingletown Open Studios - June 2-3 & 9-10, 11am-6pm. Lots of open studios with lots of different artits. Read about last year's holiday walk in Jingletown. (free)

Projet En Vue showing - June 2-3. A display of photos and interviews from the truly amazing Projet En Vue. (free)

Dimond Night Out - Tuesday, June 5, 6-8:30pm. Sample your way through 17 different Dimond restaurants and merchants. ($20)

looking further ahead:

(Cook)Book Club - Saturday, June 9, 1-2:30pm. Make a dish from DIY Delicious and join author Vanessa Barrington and East Bay Dish blogger Christina Mitchell for a DIY potluck. (free)

Urban Farm Tours - Saturday, June 9, 11am-5pm. Join the Institute for Urban Homsteading for a tour of various urban farms in Oakland. ($5/location or $25-$30 for all)

Temescal Street Fair - Sunday, July 8. The annual street fair in Temescal features food, music, art and fun for the whole family. (free)

Community Arts Festival - Sunday, July 29. Art show at Mosswood Park. Music, snacks, art and more. Contact HellaCity@rocketmail.com if you'd like to participate.

Pedalfest - Saturday, August 18, 11am-8pm. The second annual Pedfalfest at Jack London Square. Last year's Pedalfest was hella fun, for cyclists and non-cyclists alike.

ongoing events:

Bites off Broadway (Fridays)
Piedmont Avenue Art Walk (3rd Thursday)
Art Murmur (1st Friday)
Saturday Art Stroll (Saturdays)
Mt. View Cemetery Tours (2nd and 4th Saturdays)
OMCA Summer Nights (last Friday of the month)

Memorial Day Observance at Mountain View

Hundreds gathered in Mountain View Cemetery to remember and honor the soldiers who gave their lives in the service of their country. As people gathered, a brass trio played. After the presentation of the colors, a variety of veterans and active servicemen and women spoke. One speaker called upon people to not only remember the fallen, but to remember and honor vets who've made it home, too, and one way to honor them is to encourage the Veterans Administration to speed up processing of benefits for the vets who need them. The ceremony finished with the placing of a wreath at the veteran's memorial and a 21-gun salute. About 50 people stayed for a tour of the three veteran's plots at Mountain View led by docent and historian, Dennis Evanosky.

More photos:

New Bay Bridge Progress

Idon't think about the Bay Bridge very often; I don't drive much anymore, when I do it's very rarely into San Francisco so it's generally only when I see the bridge from West Oakland or the hills that I think about it at all. But on Wednesday I took part in a special tour of the bridge with the local chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology. A very knowledgeable CalTrans PIO named Vic showed us a short video and answered questions, then took about 25 of us out on a boat to see the old and new east spans up close and personal.

It may seem like ancient history to recent Oakland residents, but it was almost 25 years ago that the Loma Prieta Earthquake destroyed the Cypress structure in West Oakland and damaged the Bay Bridge. A 50-foot section of the upper deck collapsed, leaving the vital link in Bay Area transportation impassable for a month and half.

Part of why it's taken so long for the project to be completed is that it's actually several projects. Besides building the new east span, they also needed to retrofit the west span, rebuild the San Francisco approach to the bridge, and temporarily retrofit the existing east span so that the bridge could remain open while the new span is being built. The new east span is made up of an approach in Oakland, the skyway, the signature suspension span, as well as the transition on Yerba Buena to the existing two-layer tunnel.

And part of why it's taken so long is that as vital as the bridge is, CalTrans and various contractors have done a lot of work to try to ensure the updated bridge won't fail again, and that has required inventing some new ways of building bridges. For example, the skyway has a number of large joints connected by hinge-pipe beams. They look like huge dowels, and each can make small moves with temperature changes and large moves in an earthquake. In the event of a really large earthquake, the center of each 'dowel' is designed to break to keep the structure of the bridge intact. The joint can then be replaced. Similarly, the tower of the Self-Anchored Suspension (SAS) span has shear link beams between the four legs. The beams are designed to flex in the event of an earthquake, and can be replaced if damaged.

It was a fascinating tour, and a nice chance to see the old east span as well as the progress on the new. Unlike a lot of people, I actually like the old span. If I had the money, I'd get the Oaklandish t-shirt of it in a flash. (Well, and a half dozen others like Typehoods, Train Tracks, Silver Skull, Sugar Skull, Cranes Reflection, and East Oakland signs, if somebody is feeling generous.) But seeing it first-hand, I'm impressed with the design of the new span. It's got clean, elegant lines, though those are harder to see with all the falsework (temporary supports), a unique asymmetrical design, and features for everyone from pedestrians to nesting cormorants.

Lots more pictures from the tour:


For the latest updates on the Bay Bridge project, and more pictures and video, check out the Bay Bridge Info website. They've also got some great photos and other items from the construction of the bridge and the celebrations for the opening in 1936.

The slideshow includes a picture of the "Bay Bridge Troll" on the existing east span that was installed by ironworkers repairing the collapsed section of the upper deck. For a closeup picture of it and more info about it, see the Wikipedia page.

upcoming Oakland events

Asurprisingly quiet week. Or maybe I just haven't heard about all the good stuff going on? Let me know in the comments!

SoundWaves at JLS - Thursday, May 24, 5:30-7:30pm. Live music at Jack London Square. This week: Crystal Monee Hall - Folk/Gospel. (free)

Memorial Day Hike - Monday, May 28, 9am. Join Friends of Sausal Creek for a vigorous hike through Joaquin Miller Park. Meet at Joaquin Miller Court at the Palos Colorados Trailhead. (free)

Memorial Day Commemoration at Mt. View - Monday, May 28, 10am. Dennis Evanosky will lead a guided tour of the refurbished Civil War plot and other areas of notables that are buried in the cemetery. Join us in remembering our veterans on this special day! (free)

looking further ahead:

Party for a Purpose - Wednesday, May 30, 5-10pm. 50% of proceeds go to the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

ACCFB Empty Bowls - Thursday, May 31, 6-8pm. Annual fundraising event for the Alameda County Community Food Bank. An evening of art, nourishment and advocacy. ($25+)

Great Oakland Public Schools End of Year Party - Friday, June 1, 5-8pm. Join Great Oakland Public Schools in celebrating teachers and others who make Oakland schools better. Next to Jack's Night Market. (free)

Jack's Night Market - Friday, June 1, 6-10pm. A fun evening market at Jack London Square, featuring good, fun, vendors and more (free)

Dancing Under the Stars - Friday, June 1, 8:30-10pm. The return of the popular event kicks off with salsa dancing. (free)

Jingletown Open Studios - June 2-3, 9-10, 11am-6pm. Lots of open studios with lots of different artits. Read about last year's holiday walk in Jingletown. (free)

Dimond Night Out - Tuesday, June 5, 6-8:30pm. Sample your way through 17 different Dimond restaurants and merchants. ($20)

ongoing events:

Bites off Broadway (Fridays)
Piedmont Avenue Art Walk (3rd Thursday)
Art Murmur (1st Friday)
Saturday Art Stroll (Saturdays)
Mt. View Cemetery Tours (2nd and 4th Saturdays)

The Lake That Isn't

You may already know that Lake Merritt isn't a lake, but a tidal slough that various creeks and countless storm drains feed into. What you may not know is that it was originally freely connected with the estuary via a 600' wide opening, and early Oakland and nearby towns took advantage of the tidal action to use it as a sewer.

The lake covers about 140 acres, but is only 10 to 15 feet at the deepest during high tide. The areas closer to the shore are 4 to 8 feet deep, although in 1962 over 9 inches of rain fell in 24 hours, raising the water level by 7 feet and flooding surrounding streets and sidewalks.

In the 1860s, Dr. Samuel Merritt proposed financing a dam and cleaning up the new 'lake'. An early developer, he built a striking Italianate Victorian (Camron-Stanford House) along the shore and other wealthy landowners followed suit. In 1870 he moved to have the lake declared a wildlife sanctuary (the first in the U.S.), in part so residents wouldn't be bothered by the noise of hunters.

In the 1910s, the center of the boathouse (now the Lake Chalet) was built as a pumping station for the Oakland Fire Department. In 1913 the wings were added, and the same year the pergola at the north end of the lake was built.

The 1920s brought more changes. In 1920 the bandstand was constructed; in 1923, the Cleveland Cascade; and in 1925, the famous necklace of lights was completed. The necklace was dimmed during WWII for blackout conditions. The current necklace was relit in 1985 after a long campaign.

In 1950, building the Frickstad Viaduct turned a simple boulevard into "world's shortest freeway", destroying the gardens near the Kaiser Auditorium in the process. Originally they planned to build more of the civic center buildings there, but that never happened. Ironically, the useful life of the road widening was less than 10 years. At the time, it reduced a traffic bottleneck, but with the building of I-880 (then CA-17) and I-580, it was no longer as useful.

Now the 12th Street Project is working to restore some of the original water flow and natural beauty of the area. For the latest on the 12th Street Project, check out Erik Niemann's 12th Street Project blog. He contributed photos of the project for the new edition of Oakland: The Story of a A City and has a great time-lapse of the progress so far.

Update: If you thought the 12th Street freeway was bad, imagine if they'd built this monstrosity of a bridge, the "viaquadrome," that the Oakland Standard from the Oakland Museum recently posted.

Related links:

• old Oakland maps (compare 1877,1912,1936)
• Camron-Stanford House
• Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After
• Cleveland Cascade
• Rotary Nature Center
• Gardens at Lake Merritt
• Lake Merritt Rowing Club
• Lake Merritt Institute
• Children's Fairyland
• 12th Street Project
• Cycling Through History
• OaklandMofo.com
• Jane's Walk
• Lake Merritt (Wikipedia)

Top photo © Gene Anderson. Other photos courtesy of the Oakland Heritage Alliance.