Page 223 - Beyond Decommissioning

204 Beyond Decommissioning

In 1998, the site was sold, remediated, and redeveloped as mixed-use Atlantic Station. The Atlan-
tic Station plan includes homes for 10,000 people, retail and hotel employment opportunities for
30,000 more, and shopping and entertainment. Instead of a dark and abandoned factory, there
will be a sustainable community” (DOE, 2009).
“In Seattle, WA, the Seattle Gas Works Park is a phoenix rising from the rusted remains of a gas
factory. The 8-ha point on Lake Union was cleared in 1906 to construct a coal-to-gas manufactur-
ing plant that later handled crude oil. Production stopped in the 1950s, and the city acquired the
site for a park, which opened in 1975. The boiler house was converted to a picnic shelter with
tables, fire grills, and an open area. The former exhauster-compressor building, now a children’s
play barn, features a maze of brightly painted machinery” (DOE, 2009).

6.2.3.4 Oakland’s Ninth Avenue Terminal, CA, USA
Not unlike the Ostiense terminal (Section 6.2.3.2), Oakland’s historic Ninth Avenue
Terminal was a point of controversy for some 10 years. Efforts to save this building
from demolition have now succeeded in the preservation of the historically significant
portion of the building to showcase a maritime museum.
The 1.67-ha warehouse was opened in 1930 at the west end of Brooklyn Basin,
Oakland’s Port. The main purpose of the building was to handle lumber, steel, and
large amounts of other commodities. The building had been in use 1930–2015, ulti-
mately as a cotton storage facility. “It is a rare example of a particular architectural
typology; a prewar municipal port building utilized for break-bulk cargo in Oakland
with railroad spur tracks on either side, and extensive open platform space along the
west side (3DVDT, 2016).”

6.2.3.5 Fulham Broadway, London, UK

Fulham Broadway is a London Underground station. It was opened as Walham Green
in 1880. In 2003, the street-level station building was closed and a new entrance was
opened within the adjacent Fulham Broadway shopping center, which was partly
installed above the formerly open-air sections of the platforms. The old station build-
ing was redeveloped and occupied between 2005 and 2010 by a restaurant. In the
period 2010–2012 the building was occupied by an attractive food market. Currently
it has a host of little restaurants with communal tables in the middle of the hall. Most of
the initial features and architecture have been preserved, among which the facade in
terracotta panels is notable (Fig. 6.23). The pedestrian bridge has also been preserved.
The building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas)
Act 1990 for its architectural and historic interest.
In 1998 Fulham Broadway provided the set for the movie “Sliding Doors”. When
leaving the train, the two main characters, Helen and James, are seen going up the old
steps towards the exit. These steps no longer lead to that exit, having been made
redundant by the new above-mentioned ticket hall; however, they remain as a bridge
between the platforms (Historic England, 2018).