IN PROGRESS
AT FIRST, THERE was nothing but open water. Then silt, dredged from the Sacramento River, was dumped into San Francisco Bay and flattened to create a 400-acre island for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. Because the Sacramento River, which flows into the Bay, begins in the heart of gold country, some thought the new island might be made of gold. So they wishfully called it Treasure Island.
Traces of harmless radioactive materials remain from a brief chapter in the island’s history— a naval station was erected in 1942 and used, in part, for nuclear decontamination training—but otherwise the island remained woefully underused until 2009, when the federal government sold it to San Francisco for $105 million. For a moment, it looked as if it might become the proposed site for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a somewhat confusing concept from Star Wars creator and Bay Area resident George Lucas. But Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti made a more persuasive case for his city. Again, the promise of gold was denied.