Naval Hospital Oakland

{{Short description|Former hospital in California, United States}}

Naval Hospital Oakland, also known as Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, was a U.S. naval hospital located in Oakland, California that opened during World War II (1942) and closed in 1996{{cite web

| url=http://www.militarymuseum.org/NavHospOakland.html

| title=Naval Hospital Oakland

| publisher=California State Military Museum

| access-date=23 October 2007

}} as part of the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure program.{{cite web

| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/docs/1993com2.pdf

| title=Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission – 1993 Report to the President

| date=1 July 1993

| publisher=United States Department of Defense

| access-date=23 October 2007

}} The {{convert|167|acre|adj=on}} site is bordered on three sides by Mountain Boulevard and Keller Avenue in the city's Oak Knoll section; its map coordinates are {{coord|37.768|-122.146|type:landmark|display=inline,title|format=dms}}.

Oak Knoll hospital was built during World War II to treat American military personnel wounded in the Pacific theater. In later years, it also treated those wounded in the Korean and Vietnam wars. The site was previously a golf course and country club that had closed during the Great Depression.[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/22/BABE1A6VIS.DTL#ixzz0Wn1bCrTB "Stalled Oak Knoll development leaves fire fears" San Francisco Chronicle October 22, 2009]

Construction on a large main hospital building began in 1965, and it opened in 1968. The base was officially closed in 1996 in a Navy ceremony.{{cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1996/04/02/MN74563.DTL | title=Fond Farewell to Old Oak Knoll | newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle | date=2 April 1996}}

The main hospital building was imploded on April 8, 2011.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17769758?nclick_check=1|title = Oak Knoll Naval Hospital to be imploded Friday|date = 4 April 2011}}

Oak Knoll and Lehman Brothers bankruptcies

In 2005, a partnership of Lehman Brothers and SunCal (a land developer from Southern California) bought the site for $100 million, planning to build a master-planned community featuring 960 homes, a shopping area, and a {{convert|50|acre|ha|adj=on}} park.{{cite web | url=http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/11/26/focus7.html | title=SunCal rolls $200M dice | newspaper=SF Business Times | date=23 November 2007}} In 2008, SunCal began demolition, but Lehman collapsed in September, cutting off financing for the project. Demolition work stopped for over a year, although SunCal initiated legal action against Lehman in November 2008 to obtain cleanup funds and resolve other issues involving the property.

In October 2009, SunCal secured $550,000 from Lehman, which was used for property-wide weed abatement, cleaning up wood piles, repairing perimeter fences, and providing 24-hour armed security guards to help secure the property from trespassers. In March 2010, SunCal secured a written agreement between the Lehman/SunCal bankruptcy trustee and a remediation firm on a $3.7 million plan to demolish numerous wooden outbuildings throughout the former base; all of these wooden structures have since been removed. The former Club Knoll Officers' Club was spared for future restoration.

In January 2011, the presiding federal judge in Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy approved the release of $1.7 million to complete the major demolition work at Oak Knoll. This allowed demolition of the major concrete and steel buildings to proceed, and the warehouse and the bachelor enlisted quarters have since been removed. The 11-story hospital building, the largest structure on the site, was taken down in the spring of 2011. All structures to be demolished were first cleared of lead and asbestos.

SunCal itself is not in bankruptcy and continues to do business. SunCal still plans to redevelop the property into a master-planned community, but with a new financial partner. However, this is dependent on the outcome of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, which continues to proceed through court.

In November 2008, 14 SunCal projects filed for bankruptcy protection following the Lehman Brothers collapse; these were all properties where Lehman was involved.{{cite web | url=http://implode-explode.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=222174#222174 | title=SunCal files 14 Voluntary Chapter 11's, Blames Lehman | publisher=Implode/Explode | date=8 November 2008}} The entity that owns Oak Knoll, SunCal Oak Knoll LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2009.{{cite web | url=http://losangeles.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/09/28/story8.html | title=Oakland is worried about Oak Knoll site | newspaper=San Francisco Business Times | date=25 September 2009}} The case is in United States bankruptcy court for the Central District in Santa Ana, CA, case 8:08-bk-17588-ES.{{cite web | url=http://implode-explode.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=224809 | title=Today's SunCal Target | publisher=Implode/Explode | date=20 November 2008}}

San Leandro Naval Hospital

San Leandro Naval Hospital was built on the rolling hills next to Naval Hospital Oakland to care for troops who needed neuropsychiatric care during World War II. The 500-bed hospital opened on August 15, 1944, and closed on September 1, 1946. Neuropsychiatric care was for what was called shell shock, war neurosis, and combat fatigue, now called Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The hospital was soon expanded to 1,500 beds. At its closing, it was turned over to Naval Hospital Oakland. In 1951, San Leandro Naval Hospital was reopened for Korean War troop patients. In 1964, the US Navy sold the hospital and its land to a housing developer. The funds from this sale were used to build a modern hospital building at nearby Naval Hospital Oakland. The San Leandro Naval Hospital land is now the Sequoyah Hills housing subdivision.[http://www.militarymuseum.org/NavHospSanLeandro.html San Leandro Naval Hospital][https://www.sequoyahhome.org/about/history/ The 20th Century History of Sequoyah Hills]

References

External links

[http://www.business2oakland.com/main/oakknoll.htm Redevelopment Plan Information]
[http://www.militarymuseum.org/NavHospOakland.html article on Oak Knoll at California State Military Museum, with historical aerial photo]
[http://www.sequoyahhome.org/features/ article on area military history with photos, Sequoya Homeowners Association website]
[http://www.formerbases.com/california_northern.htm Northern California at Former Bases]

Category:Medical installations of the United States Navy

Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1942

Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1968

Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 2011

Category:Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion

Category:History of Oakland, California

Category:Defunct hospitals in California

Category:Hospitals established in 1942

Category:Hospitals disestablished in 1996

Category:Military in the San Francisco Bay Area

Category:Military history of California

Category:Hospitals in Oakland, California