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Competing EcoCenter proposals draw heavy public turnout and a call to collaborate
Summary
Two finalists — the Bay Institute/Aquarium of the Bay with City College and the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) — presented proposals for stewardship of the Heron's Head EcoCenter. Public testimony was extensive, including community residents raising toxic-site concerns and many endorsers urging the commission to require demonstrable local engagement; commissioners urged the parties to work together and asked staff to return with a recommendation in January.
Two competing proposals to operate and program the Heron's Head EcoCenter — a Bay Institute/Aquarium of the Bay partnership with City College of San Francisco, and the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) — were presented to the Port Commission and drew several hours of public testimony.
Carol Bach, Environmental Affairs Manager for the Port’s Planning & Development Division, outlined the RFP process: the request for proposals was issued Sept. 25 and closed Nov. 8; staff received two qualifying submittals and convened an evaluation panel. Bach said the RFP aimed to promote public access, educational programming and local community engagement at the 6,058-square-foot EcoCenter.
Jackie Flynn, executive director of APRI, emphasized workforce development and local hiring in Bayview Hunters Point, describing construction-sector training, HAZMAT and job-readiness programs and the group’s prior work reaching neighborhood youth. Flynn told commissioners APRI’s proposal would connect residents to green-jobs pathways.
Carrie Chen, director of education and conservation at the Bay Institute/Aquarium of the Bay, described a joint stewardship plan with City College to expand free environmental education for schools in Southeast San Francisco, hire staff representative of District 10, deepen volunteer and shoreline-cleanup programming, and host teacher professional development. "We want the community to be very involved in all the decision making for the future program growth of the EcoCenter," she said.
Public comment included both strong endorsements and pointed concerns. Dozens of students, teachers, labor representatives, local nonprofits and academics described hands-on learning, workforce pipelines and long-standing stewardship ties with City College, the Bay Institute and community partners. At the same time, Dr. Espinola Jackson urged caution, saying "That is a toxic site" and insisting the commission verify remediation records before committing programs that would bring children to the park.
In response, Bach reviewed environmental work done during park construction and subsequent sampling and a human-health risk assessment approved by San Francisco’s Department of Public Health. Bach said the assessment applied conservative exposure assumptions and concluded that contaminant concentrations were generally below screening levels and "did not pose a health hazard." She urged interested parties to read the port’s posted reports.
Multiple commissioners told the two proposer teams they expected concrete, demonstrable commitments to community involvement and urged the groups to work together where feasible. Several commissioners said the commission did not want to pick winners and losers without evidence of meaningful, local engagement, and asked staff to return with a formal recommendation at the port’s January meeting.
The informational presentations did not begin or end the evaluation process; staff will evaluate proposals under the established panel process, and the commission will consider a staff recommendation in a subsequent meeting.
