May 03 2008
Albany Bulb Removal of Safety Hazards
As posted on the Albany City website:
The removal of “Safety Hazards” is being done “to create a safer environment, and increase the usable area of The Bulb through the removal of exposed concrete and rebar that are remnants of this former landfill, and through the removal of noxious weeds, planting of native species and habitat restoration.”
The Albany Bulb is included in the Eastshore State Park Plan, however, it is till owned by the city of Albany. In the Eastshore State Park Plan the Bulb is designated “Conservation” and contains policies to protect and enhance upland habitat for wildlife. Policies related to the Bulb are as follows:
…”develop and implement a program for the removal of safety hazard associated with construction debris on the surface of the Neck and Bulb… Break up large concrete and construction debris to improve appearance, reduce safety hazards, etc. ”
Restoration Project Information Sheet :
Contact Name: Ann Chaney - achaney@albanyca.org
Project Partners, East Bay Regional Park District (contact info: Brad Olson - bolson@ebparks.org) and Citizens for an Eastshore State Park (contact info: Patricia Jones - eastshorepark@hotmail.com)
Estimate: $250,000 ($8,000/day over 30 working days)
Read full Project Description PDF: http://www.albanyca.org/archive/pdf/042108_8-1_A1AlbBulbSaftyHazRem.pdf
Well, it has started - the destruction of what the city calls ’safety hazards’ and what the rest of us call imagination, creativity, freedom of expression and more.
The beautiful bridge which a group of people were building at the far end of the Bulb was taken down and every scrap of wood removed…to be taken to a… landfill perhaps?
And then there is the horrible destruction of the skatepark, which had been providing hundreds of kids, teens and not so young kids with a place to go where they learned what it means to look after a place they had ‘invested’ time and energy in. And have a wild time.
I dunno about you, but I keep hearing that we do not provide enough activities for youngsters - so they did it themselves, they built it and they looked after it, and no-one who fell and scratched themselves went home to mommy and cried.
Social control takes many forms - it’s hard to hear people of my age who used to protest outside city hall in the 60’s and 70’s and now run those same cities, be so willing to crush individual forms of personal expression in our own backyard. Leave the friggin’ landfill alone!
I am hoping to convince the Waterfront commitee that safety is not necessary, but I suspect I wont succeed. I made the point that people take life at their own risk and suing over an ill maintained sidewalk is quite different than suing over a skate park one built himself, or some risky looking rebar that he realized was probably a bad idea to climb.
I got a whole batch of funny looks for being anti safety. It isn’t something they are used to hearing.