History
Since the era of Mayor Francis Mott and later under Mayor John Davie's administration from 1915–1931, various redevelopment plans have been proposed for the district. Davie was fond of the lake, and took to rowing there daily for recreation. Davie attempted to fulfill his original dream of a "Civic Center" at the south end of Lake Merritt. Dredging material was used to fill, and make usable for the project, nearly a 100 acres (400,000 m2) of swampy land from 1st to 7th Streets and from Fallon Street to 5th Avenue. A new museum building was planned, along with an athletic center, an exhibition hall, an opera house, a symphony hall and other facilities.
Before the end of WWII, Oakland's City Manager at the time, Charles R. Schwanenberger, began raising hopes for renewed development in the district. Revised plans called for a new main public library, a central fire station, police administration building, and a new jail in the area. The long-delayed widening of the 12th Street dam, at the time a traffic bottleneck for motorists, destroyed the Gardens of the Oakland Auditorium, and dashed hopes for a Civic Center at that site. Following the war, a planning document for "Civic Center and Lake Merritt Improvement" was adopted as a part of the city's Master Plan. This plan called for more than a dozen public buildings to be grouped between Harrison and Fallon and between 14th and 10th Streets in a rectangle, continuing past the Oakland Auditorium and the School Administration Building on East 10th Street in a curve around the south end of Lake Merritt. A moratorium on new construction was imposed on the entire area pending development of the Civic Center, much to the chagrin of property owners.
Today parts of the plan have been realized on solid land on the west side of the lake, to include government office buildings, a courthouse, post office library, community college campus, and museum grounds.
Read more about this topic: Civic Center, Oakland, California
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