What’s New

Help plant on west shore of main lagoon Sat., Apr. 5

Join City of Berkeley Park, Recreation, and Waterfront staff planting trees and large shrubs and broadcasting flower seeds on the west shore of the Aquatic Park main lagoon Sat., Apr. 5, 9:15 – noon, with lunch provided! The site is midway along the shoreline. You can walk or bicycle from either end, but with a car, use the south entrance (see map in the next item.) Signup and details here.

Shoreline Cleanup at Model Yacht Basin/Middle Lagoon Sun., Mar. 23

Shark Stewards host another in its series of shoreline cleanups 10 AM – noon Sun., Mar. 23, at the historic Model Yacht Basin, the much smaller lagoon just south of the big one. The porthole window in what is now the musical-theater headquarters tells you it was the clubhouse for these model yachts when the park opened!

RSVP appreciated here. Bringing your own bucket, tongs, and gloves appreciated, but there will be some to share. Map here. You can cycle or walk from the main, north entrance, but by car you need to go into Emeryville and double back. Meet at the parking circle where Bolivar (also called Shellmound and Bay Street) is blocked. There is more parking farther south.

Good news for Aquatic Park water monitoring!

Shark Stewards is making good progress on monitoring water quality in Aquatic Park’s lagoons — interns completed a successful test of monitoring for bacterial contamination, and are continuing spot checks of other parameters with a hand help monitor.

We expect to partner with Shark Stewards, with most work done by interns training for future environmental careers! With the most up-to-date equipment, we will be able to continuously measure temperature, dissolved oxygen, and salinity, contributing to building baseline data for climate change and to help with management of this beautiful and heavily used 100-acre park. Aquatic Park’s lagoons, like many such human-made water bodies, have been troubled almost since their creation with recurrent algae blooms and wildlife die-offs; they must also be managed to avoid flooding. Climate change is likely to add to these challenges.

Tour Dreamland Playground area with biologist 10AM – 11AM Thursday, Jan. 30, emphasizing existing natural resources and native plant/pollinator habitat enhancement possibilities at and near a replacement playground. A “pop-up workshop” also will give opportunities to comment on two alternative conceptual designs. No signup needed — meet at Aquatic Park at Channing Way or nearby Dreamland entrance — notice does not say, but they’ll be easy to spot! Info here.

A survey asking your ideas on second-round concepts for the area closes Jan 31. , Link is here. At a Dec. 12 second online meeting on redesigning the Dreamland for Kids playground, consultants introduced two fairly detailed conceptual designs: “Dreamland Reimagined,” focused on fantasy-themed play structures (below left), and “Land and Sea Playground” with more spread out, naturalistic play (below right). (Download larger graphics here; additional background and graphics here , as well as lower on this page (scroll down).

Nov. 25 Berkeleyside article outlines that Berkeley Commons lab building, Addison to Bancroft east of Aquatic Park, is still empty amid glut of West Berkeley lab space. Link here.

Send your ideas on replacing Dreamland for Kids playground by Nov. 8: About 30 people “attended” an Oct. 8 Zoom presentation on replacing Aquatic Park’s 24-year-old Dreamland for Kids Playground, including reconfiguring nearby paths, picnic areas, and restroom. (Scroll down for pictures and background.)

Consultants got lively feedback on three concepts. Now, the city wants your reactions to these, as well as other ideas, by Nov. 8. You can see the consultants’ presentation here (big file — be patient), scroll down to the three concepts, and then fill out a survey here. With ideas that don’t fit the survey, email here.

Big changes for the Dreamland for Kids area? With $300,000 from the city’s General Fund, the Parks Department plans to design a replacement for the Dreamland for Kids playground, north of where Channing would be if it crossed the tracks. The big wooden play structure — largest in the city — was among collaborations throughout the nation between landscape architect Robert Leathers and local volunteers. Aquatic Park’s effort was spearheaded by Berkeley Partners for Parks, who chose placement and details and, along with Parks staff, organized hundreds of volunteers of all ages to do much of the construction.

The popular playground shows its 20+ years and does not meet modern accessibility standards. Parks Director Scott Ferris says that the city is working with staff and on-call landscape architects, with public input perhaps six to eight months off. A new playground would have to mesh with other changes: A new grant to reduce runoff pollution promises a 10,000-square-foot rain garden or “bioswale” in the present parking area (scroll down for more info).

The three acres just north of the parking lot, also bordered by Bolivar Drive, Bancroft, and the railroad tracks, may be redeveloped as laboratories similar to those still under construction just to the north. Woodstock Development of Burlingame has approached the city about replacing the 50-year-old, one story buildings dating from the 1970s. This would require planning forpedestrians, cyclists, and cars on the narrow strip between the property and the lagoon; emergency access and evacuation; the planned large bioswale, and future rising groundwater and possible flooding.

Volunteers help plant new forest on west side of Aquatic Park: The little-used west shore of the main lagoon, polluted by freeway noise, has a new forest intended to lessen noise and draw people and birds. The area has about 1,200 new plants, plus an irrigation system to help with maintenance. According to Ian Kesterson, city forester, about 300 trees will get quite large if they survive; about 300-400 would be small trees or large shrubs at maturity, and others are smaller shrubs or groundcovers.

In January, contractors planted 100 trees edging the freeway (left) and installed irrigation to keep the new plants alive (center). At volunteer events Feb. 3, Mar. 9, and Apr. 6, hundreds helped with planting and mulching. Costs, more than $300,000, came from a CalTrans/state Natural Areas grant to mitigate freeway impacts, the Bayer Fund, and about a sixth from the Berkeley Parks Tax.

Grant for urban-runoff treatment for Bancroft-Channing approved: The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved a $1.5 million grant to pay half the cost of $3 million in improvements to treatment of urban runoff from near the west ends of Channing and Bancroft to Aquatic Park, a small part of polluted discharges to the lagoons from the city.

The project is expected to include a 10,000 square foot “rain garden” in the present parking lot next to Dreamland for Kids playground and centrifugal trash separators at Channing and Bancroft east of the railroad. These could also be designed to reduce inflows of smaller particles. The grant proposal is here. The work would lessen pollution from two “microwatersheds” that drain small areas in West Berkeley directly to the main lagoon – a small fraction of the polluted urban runoff to Aquatic Park’s lagoons. An overall view of circulation and urban runoff in the Aquatic Park lagoons is here.