Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 11

A-11 First envisioned in 1917 brought to reality in 1940 Now's the time to begin conversion process to civilian uses officials urge The dismay that fell over East Bay leaders Friday was com- pounded by the sagging feeling -that they had come so dose to success Logical and coat-effec- tlve arguments had been made for saving the Alameda Naval Air: Station and at least a few of Its support facilities they thought 1 But leaders admit the fight Is most likely over now and time to move on and turn the naval facilities Into dvUdn Job- producing centers too big to cry but it hurts too much to laugh" said retired Rear Adm Robert Toney presl-dent of the Oakland Chamber of 7 -Commerce and a leader in efforts to save the bases "We are dlsap-! pointed that the commission i1! failed to realize that these fadll-i 1 tics are an integral part of our do The federal Base Closure and announcement that the Alameda Naval Air Station was on the list of recommended closures marked the end of a kmg and sometimes rocky history of the Navy In Alameda 1 Alameda resident John Mul-Vfiny decided In 1917 that a flat Ifcce of tldeland at the end of the idand could and should be used as an air station But there was a kit of work to be done and the marshy land had to be made sol-rid by dumping landfill on top in fact crews filled in about 1700 acres almost doubling the size of Alameda's main anrt Because of the deep mud and sand covering the base the org- nal civilian workers at the base were called owners" after theplanks they walked on to keep theft boots out of the mud The land was purchased by the government from Alameda -for $1 the tiniest drop In the $75 million bucket it would eventually take to make the base work as a naval sir station The base was finally commissioned on Nov 1 1940 after almost 23 years of politicking and setbacks' In the time since Its commls- stoning the base has seen some colorful entertainment by many top names Bing Crosby Jane Wyman Hoagy Carmlchal ZJg-gly Elman and Dolores Grey en- tertalned the troops one Friday night in --j -Two presidents landed at the base John Kennedy and and a chapter In her life --after' George Bush i Friday's announcement the base Visiting vice presidents often will be dosed News that tee 1 In 1965 then-Vlce Fredent Hu- gure commission recommended 'down 'the ibase employer trav- bert Humphrey The Happy Warrior" spoke to civilian and I Congressman Dan Hamburg of VaUeio -t -1 AT ty Many area residents first worked at Mare 7 Island shipyard during World Warll 6 VALLEJO Once known as "Rosie the Riveter" for her repair work cm destroyers and submarines World 'Warn Hare Hand Kami Shtpyard ghdttn Vallejo's ng dow slargest Fairfield right and aide Niki Maguire in car leam of Mare Island's fato I- 'Y' f' takes the news like a torpedo hit "i1! ''I'1 'i'" fl i i-v ii -i ft rj i lK'i -'I i 4 I-' 1 the war effort heard the news from a friend In a beauty parlor within minutes of the fiercely de- bated federal decision "It hurts more every time I "I was about to be transferred on the base to a department where I Could leam about my field of said the 20-year-old environmental studies major and return to the streets I really don't know what going to said Coverson as he at the base's front entrance comforting fellow workers mention It" said Angelo Slragusa after learning of the base's fate from his wire i' "A lot of In this' town 7 even- sad I can forget that and I will nobably have to drop out of col- ege to find work I've looked In he paper and there are no Jobs Vallejo to find" base changed my life by giving me a chance and a Job" said Nlc Coyemon' also a student-aide at Mare island He credits stood TaNc of recession' Lost memories and opportunities were not the only gloomy anchor: the Alameda Naval thoughts to be houd throughout Air Station ValWo'a public hot spots where Mter months of in- people gathered to trade lnfor- tensive lobbying by a group of matkm and rumors about the business dvlc and labor closure wi -i- era along with help fjom retired Navy officers and a $100000 study which slammed the rationale fin pulling out of the Bay Area The effort appeared to have persuaded et least three commissioners that completing "This Is horrible economic news for this community" said Chrlstopther Cocchi as 'he discussed the news of the day with i jnelghbors i In the Cafe version of Realignment Commission decided by a 4-3 vote Friday that the Bay Area's naval facilities were too large and Interconnected to even save what was considered construction of a nuclear alrv craft-carrier port in Everett? th that hue wh0 people are Just like us They came here to work at Mare Island and tually retired here This Is a day for wbo i-1 the naval base with helping him i Navy shidamagedln thewar i he trreta he bv igofi found his share of trouble wsaaDyisroo "Unfortunately there aren't Founded hU854 Maine too many employers In this town employs bout 6000 Civil- are loddng for Inexperl- lana and has an annual payrolU enced young people he sald of $186 million Is expected to be Coverson's fiancee -also de- Closed by pends on the base for work probably bg one erf the making It doubly hard on the -first employeea to be let go" said young couple who struggle to Trtee FtTC XS iS0 A fluayle touched down at NAS In 'W hire a torpedo through the city's shopsandreterles the MO am announce- erles follow- her bodmlng to Join 1989 to take a tour of the CjyvnSj support their 3-month-old daughter be honest I might have to put school on the back burner press structure which had collapsed In the Loma Prleta earthquake The air station also had Its share of sobering sights during Its 93-year history On Feb 7 1973 a Navy A-7 Jet on a training Will Stfl-V Oil 11 fiht from Lemoore Maker Jet A 1 Base in Fresno crashed lntothe Continued from A-t Tahoe Apartments on Central' Despite the apparent Slragusa who followed 'husband to Vallejo's naval shipyard In 1943 BasesrEveretti': by a 4-3 'vote 7 the Long I Beach Naval ilpjraud near Los' 1 Angeles: But they said that the Long Beach shipyard will almost certainty be a victim of the flnaTr base closure rourdf hi 1995' Panel foilowsd Pentagon Throughout" the California' votes the commissioners fol- lowed the recommendations made by the Pentagon in March Including Defense Secretary Lea" Aspln'a eleyenth-hour decision in a recent General Accounting Office report to spare the McClellan Air force Basie becuise ofthejmnnful era- nomic Impact he said its closure would have on the Sacramento -area odds against a reversal Sen Dianne Felnsteln D-Callf said she would talk to Clinton about the matter is going to be a wlpe-out of the San Francisco Bay Area and I'm not going to vote far It" Felnsteln said very On Alameda she said don't think It makes sense to dose Alameda Naval Air Station which has the capability to berth up to four nuclear carriers It has a hosptaL It has homes And Ev- erett haa none of that And I mustsayl fall toseethe logic" Kathy Megano one of a group of students employed on the base through a federal college stu-dent-aldprogram f- The commission also voted to recommend dosing -four other mkor naval facilities nation-' wide: Naval Station Mobile Ala Navai Station Staten Island NY Naval Station Charleston SC: and the-Charleston Naval ShlRyan-- Those dosures also mtched 2i? Pennon jecommajhfttops While mod votba Friday wne A A new naval statkm under construction at Everett Wash was spared by the commission In a unanimous Vote In combination with a similar facility atSan Diego the Everett naval station would replace the Alameda Na val Air Station's Junctions Ala- docking VaUeJo's "I was: here during the last recession" said Cocchi who has been a real estate broker In Val- ltjo for 1 6 years I've new 'seen real estate prices fall precipitously as they are now The base closure will Just make things that much worse around ncrc fi choked with emotion before he voted to dose the Mare Island Naval Shipyard where he not only served as a principal deputy to the commander but met his Wife and waa married 29 yean East Bay lawmakers were al- twnatriy wrffMjHi HiMpppintwi SHStri abtlT Area iuHdnn "Based upon everything that 1 can determine the current commission discharged Its responsibilities with great sensitivity to local concerns and In a thorough and professional said Ddlums the chair of the House -Armed Services Committee whose district Includes the Alameda Naval Air Station Local leaden djsappokited Rep Pete Stark D-Hayward said he waa "very disappointed'' by the commission's decision to close the air station and said he would urge the president to op- pose the recommendatloru' Rep Geoige Miller D-Martl- -nex said he "deeply regretted" the decision to close the Mare Island Naval Shipyard In Vallejo where the Pentagon forecasts a possible 117 percent erosion of the Job base I' Long Beach Naval Shipyard workers' base was spared' -ft and commissioner Harry lobbied for the expected Commissioner Peter Bowman Wash while closing similar facilities In Alameda waa a waste of money "r1- 1 "It's a killer" said Alameda County Supervisor Don Perata who led local efforts to shve bases during the 1991 round of closures and did so again this year la nothing in one fell swoopL one decision In one hour made by seven Individuals that win have as much eco-: nomic effect as this Perata said "The fact of the matter Is thatwearegdngtobepaylqgfar more in unemployment Insur- -ance next year than this facility staying opien would have coat the American peorip'' Alameda Mayor Bill Withrow charged the Navy the 7 bocks" In order to keep strong political support from the Pacific Northwest Including House -Speaker -Thomas Foley whose home state la Washington- -t "The tension level among people In Alameda Is going to be very high" Withrow said "Our peo- pie will feelthe risk of the loss ctf Jcks housing the things they've accumulated In life They're ex-posed right now" But those who led the fight to save the bases aay they must now Join together-to assure the federal government's assistance in1 an rffectlve civilian conver- slon along with making sure that the Navy deans up the nu- merous toxic problems on these bases In a tlmely manner clearly canrjot make the property productive wlthouta real strong commitment from Washington" said Perata who planned to set up a meeting with the Bay Area's Congressional delegation to discuss conversion Wlthnv said "The fact that we win la disappointing but tt's history behind us Our focus now has got to be on the future: a future without the Navy the conversion from a mill- tary-based economy toa dvlllan-based economy" With the commission also'de- elding Friday to close the Mare Island Naval Shipyard and Treasure Island Naval Station local' leaders believe that the remaining Naval facilities will fail dur- -Iqg commission hearings' over the weekend Days SaltonstaU contributed to this report Avenue The plot and nine people In the apartment building were killed when the plane clipped the Corner of one building and smashed Into a four-story 32-iinlt building In July 1988 eight members of a new minesweeping squadron died when their Navy Sea Dragon plunged Into the Pacific Ocean 1 1 miles west of the Gold- en Gate Bridge That aeddent was Mamed on pilot error 7 Other v'' 1 to be closed ASSOOATH) WASHINGTON In addltlon to the three Bay Area bases voted to close the federal base closure commission selected two facilities In Charlestov' SC and single InataUatkmf in New York am Alabama to-be -J 'r VI "to Ti- Naval Installations ini Virginia Mississippi Texas Connecticut Washington' plate and the' Maine-New Hampshire border jtere among those spared tThe commission departed Shorn the recommen-' (jatlons only twice Once waa to Navy's New London marine base at Groton The Pentagon sought to bid Its mission as a iubmarine4 base but the sevenrmember commission (tedded to keep the closure of Everett and a reprieve fur Alameda until the shape of the poat-Cold War Navy became 'rfr But In the end thie three all of whom voted against dosing Alameda did not prevalL 7 Said cdmmisalorier1 Robert Stuart? shortly before thC iVbte 7 cods of continuing at Ala-: meda are so significant We have -iv unanimous the vote ontheAla- Sen BaitkrwCozd' D-Callf Naval Air Station waa said of breathtaklngly dose- Commls- sloners voted 4-3 recommend dosing the 50-year-old air station after cme hour and twenty minutes of debate that covered Issues from dredging to housing to costs of closure A It was not clear until very late in the debate which way the vote would go in spite of a presentation by commission staffers who doggedly reiterated Navy cost heart waa a jlttlebrdren-qi) this one because I felt we had jnade the atriefiy on the merits" and not on economic Impact as was the case with other California bases But she added '1 thinlC we ought to follow the lead of Congressman Delhims who sdys make Alameda a model of economic conversion Let's turn to lace up to "We would love Jo keepr It oplm added com mission chair-- man James Courier shortly be-fore the vote "It's Just so damned expensive'' But he admonished If the Navy pours $200 million more Into -Everett and then recommends closing It In! 1995 hear me scream from New Jersey" The vote on the Treasure Is- land Naval Station' was unanimous Emotions ran high In the over- flowing hearing room through-1 Out the day A 'sacrificial ahw1 A "I feel like Abraham bringing Isaac up to the sacrificial altat" said McPherson before moving to close the naval station at Charleston where up to a 25 percent erosion of the Job base Is 3 5 J1 v1 inu savings estimates that: jerenre wm to Rep Roi- showed the Navy would sare mll-ald Delluma D-Oakland Hons more by closing Alameda Boxer said she would heed and keeping toe Everett facility Commisalonors fought hard 1 kffc Commissioner Rebecca Cox re- she would lobby the president to- peatedly took Issue with a $200 the UdT 5 million outlay she said would be Tim Pentagon decisions more merciful to needed to finish construction at wanted it ciosea California during the thlnlof five Everett Commissioner Beverly 2 The commission voted to close 'days of final deliberations on the Charleston Naval Shipyard base closures commissioners ana sai It around and-foake It thrive.