Building 49
When you visit Crane Cove Park, you cannot miss Building 49! For those that aren’t familiar, it’s the massive hangar that sits smack dab in the middle of the park, separating the beach from the BBQ area and large lawn on the South Side. The footprint is 8,000 square feet and is clearly a focal point of the park. She’s a beautiful beast!
Yet Building 49 sits empty, as it has for many years. It’s no secret that Dogpatch Paddle Club has been eyeballing Building 49 at Crane Cove Park since our inception. The location couldn’t be more ideal to enhance the functionality of the park. The Port is looking for an appropriate operator, and we believe our vision aligns tightly with the objectives of the Port to activate the space. Our hope is that this alignment, combined with our innovative ideas, and competent execution, will lead to a successful bid process. Any day now the Port will be releasing a request for proposal (RFP), to which we’re anxious to submit our plan.
We’re focused on ensuring that our vision for this space meets the requirements of the Port, while at the same time serving the needs of the community. We’ve been listening to Dogpatch Paddle Club member’s requests online for months, and believe it is time to give you an opportunity to sound off. Consider this post a preview of the current vision that is guiding the proposal process, while, at the same time, a call to action for the community to have a voice. Please give us your feedback and get involved with the planning now, so that your ideas can find their way into the implementation. At the end of the day, this project must be of the Dogpatch, for the Dogpatch, and by the Dogpatch.
Storage, Rentals, Lessons, Tours, Classes
The most obvious use for the space, which is also mandated by the Port, is to operate an aquatic center that provides services for human-powered watercraft. This includes offering storage space for existing equipment owners, rentals for visitors, lessons, tours, and classes for those seeking community and mentorship along their path of paddle experience.
We consider these services a light-lift and obvious win for Dogpatch Paddle in Building 49. We will certainly have all of these elements. In fact, we already have many of them in our current operations. Moreover, we have aspirations for so much more, including: SUP fitness (yoga) classes, tours, group paddles, advanced kayak courses, and much more.
Dogpatch Paddle Club: The Next Level
Beyond the standard operations of an aquatic center, we seek to make Building 49 a hub for the community. We believe the space is the perfect locale for a proper clubhouse. With water sports at the core, our vision is to offer value-added amenities and services to round out the experience.
Members who own their own equipment can store them at the space and opt to upgrade to club amenities. Those without equipment can join a various levels (individual, couple, family, corporate) and get unlimited access to our inventory of paddle boards, kayaks, skulls, etc. in addition to the club amenities. Those amenities will include:
Locker rooms, showers, and clubhouse gathering spaces
A fitness center for supplemental indoor & outdoor training equipment
A studio for classes like Yoga, HIIT and other group activities (and shared with the broader community)
Imagine popping in to take a kayak or SUP paddle without having to tote any equipment., having your own locker to store your clothes, rounding out your exercise with a class, cardio machine, or weight circuit, and then taking a shower on-site. It sounds pretty dreamy to us. We think the Dogpatch deserves such a facility.
Youth Camps And So Much More!
Our camps are already so popular that it has inspired really digging in to an expanded youth water sports program. There is so much opportunity for after-school clubs and teams, which will complement the plans across the park at the Friend of Dogpatch Hub facility (FoDH).
Moreover, we seek to provide ample access to under-served communities. An important focus of our missions will be to continue to offer scholarship programs and work closely with our neighboring communities.
Retail & Concessions
The Port has also requested that the building serve multiple purposes in supporting the needs of the Park. From their preliminary assessments they’ve intimated about a cafe or other food service. But our goal is to level-up with an innovative concept. We’re gathering a collection of hyper-local restaurants to establish micro-kiosks to provide window-service concessions to the park.
Imagine a raw bar, pizza slices, ice cream, picnic charcuterie, sandwiches, bagels, donuts, dim sum, and coffee available from your favorite neighborhood spots right on site at the park? Yeah, us too!
Additionally, we envision a small retail shop for equipment sales, service, and sundry items that will support all activities in the park.
Advocacy & Community
A primary driver for our vision of Building 49 involves bringing awareness about environmental issues and partnering / supporting organizations working to improve water quality and protect the wildlife of the Bay. We’ve already begun developing curriculum for our summer camps on marine biology and the effects of pollution and climate change on the ecosystem of the Bay. We have also been developing group cleanup paddles to focus on some of the polluted sites along the Central and Southern Waterfronts.
Additionally, we are committed to providing access to our amazing wilderness to the under-served communities in San Francisco. Dogpatch Paddle already offers scholarships for our summer camps and we plan to significantly level-up the outreach to our District 10 community. This spans the breadth of our operations, from employment, to scholarships, to educational programs, community partnerships, and outreach.
Dogpatch Paddle will always fuse purpose with profit and recognize the opportunity (and obligation frankly) for Building 49 to serve the community.
Getting Involved
We need you. We need your ideas, opinions, expertise, and resources. This doesn’t happen without the strong will and desire of the community. If we don’t have that, there’s no reason to build this. Judging by the nearly 800 members, mostly local, who have joined Dogpatch Paddle Club in less than six months, we believe you do. So here’s how you can help.
Leave feedback below. Share your thoughts, ideas, concerns, encouragement, connections, etc. Speak up and let your voice be heard.
Lend your expertise. Whatever you do in your professional life, is there some way you might be able to help us with our goals. This is grassroots and we need your roots.
Make connections. By the same token, help us spread the word and go deeper in the community. Do you know someone who might be helpful in advancing our vision? We are Dogpatch / Potrero / Mission Bay proud and we know some of the greatest minds in the city live nearby.
Help with fundraising. We’re going to work to keep costs at a minimum, but we’re going to need to raise money. Help us find grants and investors and we’ll be able to make this happen faster and better.