The Embarcadero Boardwalk is a defining feature of today’s San Francisco, a 25-foot-wide walkway with sky-scraping towers to the west and open water punctuated with magnetic lures to the east.
It shares another trait with the city as a whole: unexpected discoveries lie in wait, especially in terms of public spaces that don’t cost a penny. Some are easy to miss, but together they provide a perspective on the intersection of city and bay that the walk cannot match.
This thought struck me last week as I visited a truly unique new place 35 feet above the water – the roof of an old commuter ferry that, in its heyday, could hold 1,000 people and 78 cars on trips across the bay. It’s now back along the Embarcadero, moored alongside Pier 9, where anyone can stroll aboard during the week to savor priceless views at no cost.
This vessel, the Klamath, was first launched in 1925 and has not carried ferry passengers since 1959, when the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge opened and ferries were absent from the bay until that Marin’s lines in San Francisco began operations in 1976. Advertising firm Landor and Associates redesigned it as bayside offices in 1964; in 1992 it sailed to Stockton and became Duraflame’s headquarters, but the artificial log manufacturer put the boat up for sale in 2020.
It is now home to the Bay Area Council, a corporate think tank and lobbying group that has invested more than $15 million to keep the Klamath in top shape, in more ways than one.
City views can be seen from the upper deck of the 1925 ferry named the Klamath located off the Embarcadero in San Francisco. Because it is on the Embarcadero, the ferry filled with private offices must have space that is accessible to the public.
Bronte Wittpenn/The ChronicleSome of that money was for touches like the beautiful oak staircase that corkscrews three levels from the entrance to the upper deck. But much of the spending has gone into creating the public spaces and full accessibility required by the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which oversees the shoreline of the nine bay counties.
In this case, a roof terrace has been wrapped around the pilot houses on either side of the ship, with enough space and depth to include extensive flower beds that now contain hundreds of drought-tolerant native plants. There are toilets, benches and the new Klamath elevator. However, you can’t just walk around: there’s a registration desk once you enter from the plank that extends from the south edge of Pier 9, and public access is limited to weekday working hours , plus the first Saturday of the month.
Such requirements are costly and undoubtedly a headache for developers. But here’s the thing: the waterfront belongs to all Californians, just like us. State legislation that established the commission in 1965 requires “maximum practicable public access” when making changes along the bay.
Changes along the Embarcadero – land that in 1965 consisted of a two-story highway and a declining industrial port – show how broadly this goal can be interpreted. And the stretch north of the Ferry Building that includes Pier 9 is an object lesson. So if you’re headed to the Klamath on a weekday, which I highly recommend, don’t just stroll the (undeniably pleasant) boardwalk. Go through the open arched bulkhead building just beyond platform 1, turn left and see where it takes you.
The first meeting is not promising: a glass wall that seems to block the way. But the wall includes a door with a blue square sign proclaiming “PUBLIC SHORE”. True story: the commission demands that a passage through the lounge of La Mar, an expensive Peruvian restaurant, be open to the public every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
One of our weirdest public spaces, but this city is like a giant test lag.
Exploratorium exhibit engineer Erin Cole walks through an outdoor artwork by Fujiko Nakaya that pumps high-pressure water through more than 800 nozzles to create fog on a pedestrian bridge off the Embarcadero in San Francisco.
Bronte Wittpenn/The ChronicleThe walkway continues in an alley fashion to the back of Pier 5, which features the lowest waterfront walkway along the Embarcadero. Then it reconnects to the boardwalk, where you can see the round white Klamath moored at the southern edge of Pier 9. You’ll also see a restaurant just ahead in a strange structural remnant of times past. But attached to the stucco side is another one of those sea-blue shore signs – letting you know you can continue along the water, between the restaurant’s glassed-in seats and the bay. There are even benches; it’s a corner of the bay all yours.
Detour complete, just a few more steps to the gate (which must be opened) that leads along the pier to the gangway for the Klamath. The square footage of the public spaces isn’t vast — it’s not Presidio Tunnel Tops — but being on them is liberating, a fresh perspective on the bay’s juxtaposition of built and natural landscapes.
Two other surprises can be found a little further north.
Pier 9 itself can be entered through the central archway (those blue signs are like decoder rings!). Once the cargo was stored in the 800 foot long structural hangar; now Autodesk has hidden desktops inside. The gaunt stillness of the high-ceilinged space, which remains much the same.
And then you reach the Exploratorium, the interactive science museum that moved to Pier 15 in 2013. There’s kind of a big public foyer inside, with historical exhibits and comfy red sofas on which I have saw a man sleeping undisturbed last week. But the serendipitous reward comes outside – a diagonal walkway over the water where artist Fujiko Nakaya’s “Fogbridge #72494”, which swirls into action at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. as 800 tiny nozzles spray from water in the air around the surface, shrouding walkers in an ersatz fog that lingers or dissipates depending on the winds.
All these sensations are distinct. They cover a range of encounters and ambitions. But so is San Francisco – which nonetheless makes this city often infuriating.
John King is the urban design critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]: @johnkingsfchron