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Article Launched: 01/30/2008
03:05:00 AM PST
CONTRA
COSTA TIMES
Seven decades ago on Richmond's waterfront,
workers rolled up their sleeves and churned
out Ford cars for American consumers at
a plant lauded for its brick-and-glass
architecture. Later, with the dawn of World
War II, they switched to assembling jeeps
and tanks by the thousands for the military.
 After its closure in the 1950s and after
the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the sprawling
Ford Assembly Plant sat vacant, a ghost
of its once-bustling past. Rain falling
through broken skylights and windows drowned
the floor. Vandals jumped the fence and
scrawled on the walls.
"Some of the old beams and columns were
really deteriorating and had to be replaced," said
Steve Duran, head of Richmond's Community
and Economic Development Agency. "It's
an incredible building -- and it couldn't
even be occupied."
But a multimillion-dollar restoration
effort that corralled city, federal and
private dollars has restored the building
to a working hub. Tenants are moving in.
Hundreds of workers walk the halls and
huddle over tables in meetings.
New tenants started moving in a year ago,
for the first time since Loma Prieta. Now,
for the first time since the 1950s, the
building is nearly in full use.
Six tenants take up 90 percent of the
space, the largest of which is the solar
panel manufacturing company SunPower, said
Troy Peterson, project manager for Orton
Development, which owns the building. Most
tenants have signed 10-year leases with
an option to renew, ensuring that about
600 to 800 workers will be housed here
for the next decade.
In addition, the massive 40,000-square-foot
craneway with waterfront views of San Francisco
is being transformed into a restaurant,
banquet hall and concert venue that is
scheduled to open as early as this spring.
A historic landmark, the Ford Assembly
Plant was the largest on the West Coast
when it was built in 1930. It employed
1,000 people and quickly became an economic
mine for Richmond, according to city and
National Park Service records. Cars assembled
here were routed to dealers in Northern
California and Hawaii.
Among architectural enthusiasts, the building
was praised for the skylights and windows
that brought in natural light even on the
foggiest of days.
World War II brought
a federal order banning the production
of "civilian" cars, federal
reports say. In 1942, the plant switched
to preparing jeeps, tanks and other military
vehicles for shipment overseas. Workers
churned out 49,000 jeeps and 90,000 tanks
during the war.
The plant reverted to assembling Ford
cars when the war ended. With demand for
cars growing, Ford built a larger plant
in Milpitas and shut the Richmond site
in 1956.
In subsequent years, the building was
partially used for storage.
The magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake
severely damaged the building in 1989,
Duran said. Windows shattered. A brick
parapet atop the roof dropped to the ground.
"Before the earthquake, it was pretty
much underutilized. It was sitting in mothballs," Duran
said. "After the earthquake, it couldn't
even be occupied until the seismic work
was done."
The city considered tearing it down at
one point, but history lovers rallied to
save the building. More than $28 million
in federal and city redevelopment dollars
were pumped into a seismic retrofit and
other repairs.
In 2003, the city sold the building to
Orton Development for $5.4 million, less
than the $7 million the city had paid to
acquire it.
Crews installed miles of pipes and conduit
for water, heating and sewer. About 6,000
skylights and 15,000 windows were added,
said Eddie Orton, owner of Orton Development.
Orton declined to disclose the cost of
renovations.
Much of the building will be off limits
to the general public because it is leased
to private companies.
But the 55-foot-high craneway won't be.
Chefs will offer breakfast and lunch by
day; bartenders will serve drinks at night.
The space also will be used for banquets,
weddings and parties, said James Madsen,
craneway project manager. Talks are under
way to book bands for concerts in the spring
or summer.
The city owns the craneway and has arranged
for Orton to manage it. Space will be set
aside for the Rosie the Riveter/World War
II Homefront National Historical Park's
visitors center, Duran said.
"You've got a very unique and notable
building, and now you've got companies
moving in that will create several hundred
jobs and bring it back to life," Duran
said.
Reach Katherine Tam at 510-262-2787 or ktam@bayareanewsgroup.com.
By the numbers:
· ARCHITECT:
Albert Kahn
· BUILT:
1930
· CLOSED:
1956
· SQUARE
FOOTAGE: 561,000 square feet
· LENGTH:
quarter-mile
· WINDOWS:
40,000
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