Jack London Square

Jack London Square is an entertainment and business destination on the U.S. coast of Oakland , California. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is home to shops , restaurants, hotels, the Amtrak station, the San Francisco Bay Ferry dock, the historic Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon, the (re-located) cabin where Jack London lived in the Klondike, and a movie theater. The farmers' market is hosted in the retail stores on Sunday mornings. The former USS Potomac presidential yacht is moored by an adjacent slip.

 

Jack London Square is located on the south end of Broadway, across the Oakland Estuary from Alameda. The name also refers to the former industrial neighborhood surrounding Jack London Square, now known as the Jack London District, which has undergone significant rehabilitation over the last decade, including loft conversions and new construction. Former governor of California (and former mayor of Oakland) Jerry Brown made his home here before moving north to the Uptown neighborhood.

 

The mainline railroad runs through the middle of Embarcadero West, with the train speed limit set at 25 km / h (15 mph). BNSF Railway, Capitol Corridor, Coast Starlight, San Joaquin and Union Pacific Railroad use tracks running through Jack London Square. Trains share the roads with automobiles, AC Transit busses and pedestrians. The second Transbay Tube may include a BART station on the square. Another possibility is an aerial tram to BART stations in downtown Oakland.

 

The Bay Trail In The Square

The Bay Trail provides easy-to - access recreation opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts, including hikers, joggers, bikers and skaters. It also provides a setting for wildlife viewing and environmental education, and enhances public respect and appreciation for the Bay.

 

Lightship Relief: Museum & Training Facility

The Lightship Relief is a decommissioned US Coast Guard vessel that served as a floating lighthouse along the Pacific Coast from 1951 to 1975. It was docked at Jack London Square in 1987 as a museum and managed by the US Lighthouse Society as a Museum of Lighthouse History until 2012, when the Lighthouse Society donated the vessel to The Anchor Program, a Mariner Training program that has since undertaken restoration projects as part of a job training program serving marginalized communities around the Bay Area.

 

Design and development

The most recent changes to Jack London Square are adding more businesses, restaurants and entertainment. Under the lead developer Ellis Partners, Jack London Square 's new architecture and public spaces add value and use to the daytime and nighttime population. Recent new components include the 55 Harrison building, a 178,000-square-foot (16,500 m2) mid-rise by RMW Architects in partnership with Steve Worthington. The public spaces of the SWA Group have extended the city to the waterfront by adding accessible waterfront spaces that support a variety of programs and events from farmers ' markets to the popular Eat Real local organic food festival. Athletics is planning to build a new Oakland Ballpark near Howard Terminal.