OAKLAND -- City and naval history supporters trying to save the prominent Officers' Club at the Oak Knoll got a shot in the arm after the developers reversed course and said demolition is not inevitable.

Irvine-based SunCal developers are taking measures to protect the historic club's roof from further damage and propose to "possibly preserve" the building for use as a community center, according to a written statement.

Previously, developers said decades of neglect had made restoration and reuse impossible and prohibitively expensive, an estimated $10 million or more. Further, earlier studies suggested the building was beyond saving and of limited historic value.

"We decided to take another look at the club after our conversations with the city and OHA (Oakland Heritage Alliance) and we're carefully reviewing the structure's condition and studying ways to possibly preserve it," SunCal spokesman Joe Aguirre wrote in the statement.

"We now believe that it could be integrated into Oak Knoll so that it might one day return to service as a community center," Aguirre said.

Rachel Flynn, the city of Oakland's director of the Planning and Building Department, called SunCal's reversal "so great. We wanted them to save it, and everyone came together."

SunCal is pursuing plans for a 187-acre mixed-use development on the former Oak Knoll Hospital property. It would include: 935 homes with no apartments; a 72,000-square-foot lifestyle center with businesses; creek restoration; and 76 acres of open space.


The area slated for development is in a historic neighborhood above Interstate 580 in the East Bay hills near the site of the former Oak Knoll Naval Base. Development on the Oak Knoll project is slated to start sometime in 2017, Aguirre said. An Environmental Impact Report is now being prepared with opportunities for public comment along with the planning and entitlement process. The City Council will eventually take the final vote.

Flynn said an architectural firm has been hired to study the building and its restoration needs further. It's likely the club will be dismantled and moved to a new location in Oak Knoll to incorporate it into the developer's overall plans, Flynn said.

Oakland Heritage Alliance members are encouraged by the developer's change of course. However, the group would like more information and intends to remain vigilant on plans for the club.

"We're waiting to see what they present to us in writing," OHA board member Claire Castelli said. "We're cautiously optimistic."

Before SunCal's announcement, Naval Capt. Tom Snyder, of Vallejo, the commander of the San Francisco Commandery of the Naval Order, had been mobilizing forces to save the building.

The founder of the Society for the History of Navy Medicine, Snyder has reached out to naval groups and former Oak Knoll base officers and workers for a massive letter-writing campaign.

Snyder said he, too, will regroup efforts should SunCal's proposal to save the building not pan out. Snyder said loss of the historic club to the wrecking ball would be huge.

"The building represents the Navy's proud presence in the Bay Area," he said. "There are fewer and fewer pieces of evidence left of that presence."

The former Officers' Club was once part of the sprawling Oakland Naval Hospital which closed in 1996 after decades of operation. Much earlier, the Spanish Revival building opened as the Oak Knoll Country Club in 1927.

The former club is behind a security fence to prevent further graffiti and other destruction. In early December, SunCal installed a specially fabricated protection system to block rainwater from the large holes in the damaged roof, Aguirre said. The old club house is an Oakland Potential Designated Historic Resource, which could make it eligible for the National Register.

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