STATEMENT ON COLISEUM FROM PRESIDENT REBECCA KAPLAN
OAKLAND, CA – Stated Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan “In the interest of reducing strife and litigation, the Oakland City Council have unanimously asked our City of Oakland Administration to meet directly with Alameda County leaders, on strategies to resolve issues regarding our shared public property. Also, I have been working with Coliseum stakeholders to pursue a more harmonious and effective way forward including regarding issues surrounding the Oakland A’s.”
In recent months, there have been many important and valid concerns expressed regarding the future of the Oakland Coliseum Area which may include the Oakland A’s. We hear what people do not want to see happen at the Coliseum.
This includes wanting to avoid taxpayer funded giveaways and wanting to avoid loss of jobs, the location being abandoned and blighted, and finally the further erosion of our African American population, most of which has called East Oakland their home for decades. As we look toward the future and work on these concerns, we thought it would be valuable to talk about what would be good to see happen at this site.
This large, well-located expanse of public land can and should be used to provide development that benefits the community in multiple ways. The Oakland Coliseum site, co-owned by the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda, provides a unique opportunity with about 200 acres that are on BART, have freeway access, easy airport connection, Amtrak, and great central location in the growing Bay Area. We can, and should, work toward a future for the site which provides local benefits, including housing at all income levels, jobs, recreation and health, including for our youth, tax revenue, and revitalization.
Rebecca Kaplan’s View Of What Should Be At The Oakland Coliseum
The future of this great site should ideally include:
· Significant amount of new housing, at all income levels, including deed-restricted affordable housing, workforce housing, and ADA accessible housing.
· Large scale hotel and convention/conference facilities.
· Maintain and use Arena, including by seeking to bring a WNBA team and other uses. Arena can also be used in partnership with hotel/conference facilities to host large-scale events.
· Soccer options. Explore options to provide outdoor soccer fields. Be able to accommodate significant soccer tournaments and provide much-needed locations for our local youth teams etc., to practice and play. Outdoor soccer fields to be designed to be able to accommodate other uses when not in use for soccer.
· Retail, restaurants, bars, and entertainment. Snack stands, inside and outdoors.
· Improved and widened pedestrian access-way from BART, to make the welcoming experience pleasant and easy to cross, without requiring people to go downstairs and back up, no chain link, well-lit and attractive, and with access to shops and food and more.
· Quality jobs for the local community – Oakland Residents – including opportunities in construction, and incorporating existing workforce from Coliseum/Arena such as concessions, security, etc. Local hiring, equity, and quality standards policies for jobs.
· Local/small business involvement and opportunity, opportunity for local/small businesses to participate in the new development at the site.
· Protections from displacement for existing surrounding local residents and local businesses.
· Option for inclusion of City of Oakland and Alameda County public needs such as a police administration building.
· Secure bike parking/valet.
· Utilizes existing approved Plan/EIR, so development can move forward more easily and quickly.
· And, for the sake of public trust, to avoid problems with the project, and to ensure a fair and transparent process, we should start the process of issuing notification of the availability of the land for opportunities.