Chapter 3 

The Alternatives 
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHAPTER

This chapter begins with a short overview of the development of

the alternatives followed by a discussion of the elements that

would be the same in all of the alternatives. Then park areas are

presented; these describe desired conditions that could be

achieved over the next 20 years for various areas of the park. A

discussion of user capacity follows before each alternative is

discussed in detail. This discussion is followed by a short

discussion of alternatives and actions considered but dismissed

and the environmentally preferable alternative. Finally,

information regarding the alternatives is presented in table form:

table 7 presents the alternatives as they apply to various park sites;

table 8 presents the role of the National Park Service in each of

the alternatives; and table 9 summarizes the key impacts of

implementing the alternatives.

BACKGROUND FOR DEVELOPMENT 

OF THE ALTERNATIVES

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical

Park is one of the newest units of the national park system. The

national historical park is a partnership between public and

private entities and the National Park Service to preserve and

interpret the historic sites and structures in Richmond, California,

as a means to tell the stories and events of the American World

War II home front. It is also a collaborative effort among local,

regional, and national partners in order to connect visitors to sites

and stories across the country to tell the national story. These

partnerships continue to evolve.

The development of this national historical park is guided by the

congressional legislation establishing the park. The park (see

appendix B) will be managed through cooperative agreements

and the collaborative efforts of public and private entities,

including the National Park Service.

Developing a vision for the future of Rosie the Riveter/World War

II Home Front National Historical Park is the primary role of this

general management plan. Chapter 3 lays out three possible

alternatives that articulate potential visions for the national

historical park. 

In developing the alternatives, the planning team recognized that

Congress and the president created Rosie the Riveter/World War

II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California,

because of the quantity and significance of the historic sites and

structures owned by private and public partners within the City

51

Introduction
52

of Richmond. These unique and nationally

important resources can help visitors comprehend

the breadth and complexity of the national stories,

issues, and experiences that affected all Americans

during World War II.

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front

National Historical Park provides a place in the

national park system where visitors can explore

social and community issues and events that

emerged on the American home front during the

1940s. These include the following topics:

 Creation of a defense industry, almost from

scratch, using partnerships involving industry,

government, and the labor unions to recruit,

train, house, and assist workers from across the

country

 Unprecedented recruitment, migration, and

resettlement of workers 

 Large numbers of women and minorities

gaining access to relatively high-paying jobs in

industrial plants for the first time 

 Women juggling shift jobs and family

responsibilities

 First comprehensive program of health care

and services for workers and families

 U.S. government intervention to open jobs to

African Americans and other minority groups

and the unprecedented integration of the

workforce

 Provision of 24-hour services, including

shopping, recreation, housing, and child care

for the massive influxes of workers and families

 Readjustment to the dramatic decline of

defense industry jobs as World War II came to a

close and servicemen began returning home to

reclaim civilian jobs 

 Aftermath of these social and community

changes once World War II was won

Every American household, community, and

industry was impacted by the war as never before

and never since. The influence of World War II on

American lives is one of the richest, most dramatic,

and yet understated chapters in the nation's history.

In developing a reasonable range of alternatives,

information from a variety of sources, meetings, and

workshops was synthesized and integrated. In 2000,

a meeting was held with local community members

and partners to interpret and discuss the direction

given by the national historical park’s enabling

legislation. This workshop was followed by an

analysis of the park’s important historic sites,

structures, stories, and values. During 2002 and

2003, numerous planning workshops and meetings

were held with local and regional residents and

partners to further define the park’s significance,

primary interpretive themes, and potential

alternative visions. The park staff hosted many

formal and informal meetings to learn about the

public interests, ideas, and concerns. These public

meetings included workshops, open houses, and

discussions; additional meetings were held with the

managers or owners of each park site. The outcomes

of the public meetings and consultations led to the

development of the following alternatives.

Alternative A, the no-action alternative, is presented

along with two action alternatives, B and C. Each

presents a different vision for preserving and

managing cultural resources, providing for visitor

use, and developing facilities at the national

historical park. Together, the three alternatives (A, B,

and C) provide a reasonable range of options that

explore the future of Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical Park and reflect the

discussions recorded at public meetings, workshops,

and with potential cooperating partners.

The alternatives focus on what resource conditions

and visitor uses and experiences should be at the

national historical park rather than on details of how

these conditions and uses/experiences should be

achieved. Thus, the alternatives do not include many

details of how the plan will be implemented. 

In addition to the no-action alternative (alternative

A), two other visions that are referred to as action

alternatives are explored. The action alternatives are

built from ideas and concerns expressed at the

public meetings and workshops. These ideas were

explored with community groups, local and regional

leaders, and potential cooperating partner(s) at each

park site. Each action alternative describes the

desired conditions of the national historical park at

the end of the planning horizon—about 20 years

from now.

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
• Alternative A

Alternative A is the no-action alternative; the term “no-action”

means that there would be no changes to the current direction of

park management. This alternative describes the current

conditions and trends. It provides a baseline for comparison by

which to evaluate the direction and impacts that might occur if

either of the action alternatives were implemented. In the noaction alternative, visitors would continue to use self-guiding

tools or join National Park Service-led guided tours to see World

War II historic sites and structures in Richmond. Each park site

would continue to be adapted to accommodate contemporary

uses. The National Park Service would continue to gather home

front stories and operate a small self-service visitor orientation

center at Richmond City Hall.

• Alternative B

The vision for alternative B is to provide visitors with

opportunities to explore Richmond’s World War II-era historic

sites and structures in order to experience the scale, diversity, and

complexity of the American home front story. In this alternative,

the National Park Service would work with cooperating partners

to provide visitors places to stop and experience historic sites and

structures that are preserved and interpreted. Where possible a

portion of the interiors would be made accessible with artifacts,

exhibits, and programs to connect visitors to buildings stories as

well as to the larger park themes. The World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center, located at the Ford Assembly Building,

would interpret the national home front effort and orient the

visitor to Richmond’s World War II-era sites and stories.

• Alternative C

In alternative C, the vision for the national historical park would

be to provide visitors with opportunities to explore the World

War II Home Front Visitor/Education Center to learn about the

impacts and legacy of the American World War II home front. In

this alternative, the visitor/education center would be the focal

point of the park with the maximum amount of resources and

interpretation centered at this location. Located at the Ford

Assembly Building, the visitor/education center would present a

diversity of stories from communities across America and would

provide in-depth educational and research opportunities to

advance the understanding of this vital chapter in American

history. The National Park Service would work with cooperating

partners in Richmond to retain significant resources as a

backdrop to the visitor/education center. Tools would be available

at the visitor/education center for visitors who want a self-guiding

experience around Richmond to see World War II home front

sites and structures. Each park site would continue to be adapted

to accommodate contemporary uses.

53

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
54

Although each alternative presents a different vision

for the future of Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical Park, they share

some common elements. These elements evolved

from the national historical park’s enabling

legislation, existing local and regional plans, existing

agreements, and governmental commitments. 

COOPERATING PARTNERS

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front

National Historical Park is a partnership park that

includes many public and private entities working

collaboratively to preserve historic World War II-era

places and resources that convey America’s home

front stories. 

Cooperating partners are an essential element in the

future of the national historical park. These partners

include citizens, communities, and private,

governmental, and nonprofit entities that—through

agreements and shared common goals—work to

achieve the mission of the national historical park.

The National Park Service would continue to

facilitate existing partnerships and develop new

partnerships to provide for mutual benefit among

participants and to achieve the park's legislated

mandates.

The current cooperating partners include the

following entities.

• City of Richmond, California

The City of Richmond (with its Port of Richmond)

owns and manages the greatest share of designated

park sites, buildings and structures. The City of

Richmond owns and manages the Rosie the Riveter

Memorial, Fire Station 67A, the craneway of the

Ford Assembly Building, and other city parks along

the waterfront. The City of Richmond through the

Port of Richmond, owns the six historic buildings

and the five graving basins/dry docks and

surrounding acreage that make up the National

Register of Historic Places, Shipyard No. 3 historic

district. 

• Rosie the Riveter Trust

The Rosie the Riveter Trust is the friends group and

cooperating association of Rosie the Riveter/World

War II Home Front National Historical Park. The

Rosie the Riveter Trust is working to help support

the preservation and rehabilitation of the historic

resources of the national historical park in addition

to supporting oral history collection, interpretive

services, and park programs. 

• Contra Costa County

Contra Costa County owns and manages the

Maritime and Ruth C. Powers child development

centers.

• Richmond Museum Association (SS Red

Oak Victory)

The Richmond Museum Association is a nonprofit

organization that owns and operates the SS Red Oak

Victory and also promotes and encourages the study

and research of Richmond’s history. The association

works to disseminate knowledge of the city’s

history; collect, preserve and display historical

materials and artifacts of significance to Richmond;

and mark, preserve, and maintain places of historical

interest. 

The Richmond Museum Association is working to

preserve and restore the SS Red Oak Victory as an

operational vessel. The SS Red Oak Victory, a

National Memorial Ship, is being developed into a

maritime museum focused on wartime contributions

of the residents and workers of the City of

Richmond, California, and the shipbuilding

ingenuity of Henry J. Kaiser.

• Owner of the Ford Assembly Building

Orton Development, Inc. is the owner of the Ford

Assembly Building and adjacent oil house, with the

exception of the craneway. The craneway of the

building, over the waters of the San Francisco Bay, is

owned by the City of Richmond and leased to Orton

Development, Inc.

Orton Development and the National Park Service

are working together to interpret the building’s

history and to potentially locate a visitor/education

Elements Common to

All of the Alternatives
center in a portion of the craneway of the Ford Assembly

Building.

• Owner of Kaiser Permanente Field Hospital

The Kaiser Permanente Field Hospital is owned by the Masjid AlNoor, a regional non-profit religious organization. While the

current owners plan to use the building for many purposes,

including as a place of worship, they are potential cooperating

partners with the National Park Service to interpret the historic

use of the building as the second tier of health care for shipyard

workers during the war. With assistance from the National Park

Service, the Masjid Al-Noor could consider setting aside a small

area in the front of the building to provide for visitor access and

the placement of interpretive media.

• Council of Industries

Members of the Council of Industries have supported the

national historical park from the beginning. In 2005, they assisted

with the coordination, preservation, donation, and relocation of a

historic whirley crane to Shipyard No. 3.

• New Partners

The National Park Service is actively pursuing cooperating

partners and continues to develop partnerships in an effort to

preserve and interpret historic sites and structures that are key to

relating Richmond’s World War II home front stories.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

The collaborative nature of Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home

Front National Historical Park requires a commitment to building

and sustaining relationships with individuals, neighbors,

cooperating partners, and other communities of interest. 

The National Park Service will provide opportunities for

individuals and groups to tell their own stories at park sites and

will encourage the telling of home front stories throughout the

greater Richmond community and across America. The goal of

these activities is to nurture stewardship of the multilayered

World War II home front experience and legacy and to facilitate

conversations that lead to a shared understanding of the full

meaning and contemporary relevance of the World War II home

front.

ACCESSIBILITY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Cooperating partners are encouraged to take reasonable steps to

make programs, services, and historic facilities accessible to and

usable by all people, including those with disabilities. To the

55

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
56

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES

highest degree reasonable, people with disabilities

should be able to participate in the same programs

and activities that are available to everyone else.

Special, separate, or alternative facilities, programs,

or services should be provided only when no

reasonable alternative exists. All federal facilities and

facilities receiving federal funding must comply with

the Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standards

(ABAAS, March 8, 2006). 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING

The park’s enabling legislation recognized that it is

unrealistic to tell the full American World War II

home front story without links to sites thoughout

the United States. The legislation that established the

national historical park stated that the park “shall

include a program that allows for distance learning

and linkages to other representative sites across the

country.” The purpose of the distance learning is to

educate and interpret “to the public as to the

significance of the site and the World War II home

front.” Using evolving Internet and other digital

technology, the national historical park will be

linked to World War II home front sites throughout

the United States; the park will be able to both

receive and disseminate programming related to the

American World War II home front.

PARK MUSEUM COLLECTION AND

ARCHIVES

• Oral Histories

The national historical park’s enabling legislation

directs the National Park Service to “conduct and

maintain oral histories that relate to the World War

II home front theme...” In all of the alternatives, the

National Park Service continues to collect and

preserve all forms of personal home-front histories

for their historic and interpretive value as well as for

their use by staff, visitors, researchers and scholars,

and interested members of the public.

• Museum Collection Plan

The park’s legislation authorizes the National Park

Service to “acquire and provide for the curation of

historical artifacts that relate to the park.” The

National Park Service will complete a museum

collection plan that reflects the vision and scope of

the selected alternative. The museum collection plan

will guide management, curation, and public access

to historic artifacts and archives. All artifacts and

archives will be acquired, accessioned and

cataloged, preserved, protected, and made available

for access and use according to National Park

Service standards and guidelines.

The Pacific West Region Museum Collection

Curatorial Facility Plan, which was approved by the

Regional Director in May 2006, identified that a

curatorial facility for Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical Park would include

a four-park consolidated museum and research

facility. The three additional parks included in this

plan are the Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site,

John Muir National Historic Site, and Port Chicago

Naval Magazine National Memorial, all of which are

in Contra Costa County. Each action alternative

includes an approach to realizing this mandated

consolidation.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

National Park Service is authorized to provide

technical assistance regarding the preservation and

interpretation of historic properties that support the

stories of Rosie the Riveter and the World War II

home front. The National Park Service will continue

to do so under all the alternatives.

DESIGNATED WATERFRONT PARK SITES

In all of the alternatives, the National Park Service

staff will pursue opportunities to enter into

cooperative agreements for interpretation and to

provide technical assistance and support for the

open spaces that are listed in the enabling

legislation. These open space park sites include the

following:

• Rosie the Riveter Memorial at Marina

Bay Park

The Rosie the Riveter Memorial is located midway

along the string of waterfront parks and is on land

that was the former Kaiser Shipyard No. 2 (now part

of Marina Bay Park). The park and memorial are

owned, maintained, and managed by the City of

Richmond. The memorial, dedicated on October 14,
2000, is a 400-foot-long landscape sculpture that symbolizes the

framework of a Liberty Ship. The memorial honors American

women’s labor during World War II. A timeline of World War II

history and quotes from women’s firsthand experiences are

incised into the concrete walkway of the memorial, while

photographs and text panels incorporated into the sculpture

provide an overview of the home front effort, women’s

contributions, the role of labor, and the shipbuilding process. The

Rosie the Riveter Memorial is one of the stops on a self-guiding

auto tour. In addition, visitors are provided with picnicking

opportunities and views of the Richmond Marina and San

Francisco Bay. 

• Shimada Peace Memorial Park 

Located along the shoreline and forming the eastern end of the

national historical park, this 3-acre peace park commemorates

friendship between the City of Richmond and its sister city,

Shimada, in Shizuoka prefecture, Honshu, Japan. The City of

Richmond owns and maintains the Shimada Peace Memorial

Park.

This peace park is the entry point off the Bay Trail into the

national historical park. The peace park could provide

opportunities to orient the Bay Trail user to the stories and

opportunities within Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front

National Historical Park.

• Barbara and Jay Vincent Park

Located on the breakwater in front of Marina Bay, the City of

Richmond owns and maintains the Barbara and Jay Vincent Park.

The park is on land that once included a portion of Kaiser

Shipyard No. 2. This 6-acre park is home to the Liberty Ship

Monument that interprets the World War II experiences of

shipyard workers. Visitors to this park site are provided with

excellent views of all the original locations of Kaiser’s World War

II shipyards and the Ford Assembly Building, picnicking

opportunities, and views of the city of San Francisco, the San

Francisco Bay, and the Santa Fe Channel. Visitors along the Bay

Trail or touring the park using the self-guiding auto tour can

explore the scenery and interpretive waysides while enjoying a

place for relaxation and recreation.

• Lucretia W. Edwards Park

The City of Richmond owns, maintains, and manages this small,

2-acre park in honor of Lucretia W. Edwards, a local champion of

open space in Richmond, California. The park provides visitors

with access to the Richmond Inner Harbor. The interpretive

waysides describe other World War II shipyards that were located

throughout the San Francisco Bay area. The park is connected to

other sites of the national historical park by the San Francisco Bay

Trail.

57

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
58

• Sheridan Observation Point Park

The Sheridan Observation Point Park consists of a

0.5-acre plot of land along the east side of the

entrance to the Santa Fe Channel and immediately

adjacent to the west side of the Ford Assembly

Building. Owned and maintained by the City of

Richmond, the park affords astounding views of

historic buildings in Shipyard No. 3, the shipping

activities on the Santa Fe Channel, the city of San

Francisco, and the San Francisco Bay. 

• San Francisco Bay Trail

As a unifying public corridor for access,

interpretation, and public art, the San Francisco Bay

Trail weaves along the edge of the national historical

park sites that are on the Richmond waterfront. The

City of Richmond maintains more miles of the

planned 400-mile network of bicycling and walking

paths than any other city in the Bay Area. The trail

will connect the shoreline of all nine Bay Area

counties and cross the region’s major toll bridges. In

2004 the cooperating partners dedicated eight new

interpretive markers along the portion of the trail in

the national historical park; these markers tell the

story of World War II home front at numerous

historic sites. The Bay Trail will continue to draw

recreational visitors to Rosie the Riveter/World War

II Home Front National Historical Park.

RECREATIONAL BOATERS 

As the number of recreational boaters in the San

Francisco Bay area continues to increase, these

boaters seek new opportunities and attractions that

are accessible by water. At the national historical

park, there are opportunities for boaters to

experience a historic shipyard and other World War

II historic structures and sites along the Richmond

waterfront. Since boating facilities are currently

provided by two marinas adjacent to park sites, it is

not unreasonable to expect boaters to be among

future park visitors. 

A cooperative public-private effort could be

developed to identify and provide land/water access,

as well as day-use and overnight facilities and

services for recreational boaters. 

PORT OF RICHMOND AND THE

INDUSTRIAL SCENE OF THE SANTA FE

CHANNEL

The Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front

National Historical Park General Management Plan

recognizes the importance of the regional and local

port goals and objectives for industrial and shipping

activities in Richmond, California. The continued

operations of the industrial port and shipping

activities are an integral part of each alternative. The

industrial landscape of the port and the properties

surrounding the Santa Fe Channel are important to

the historic setting and provide scale in telling

Richmond’s World War II home front stories.

RICHMOND FIRE STATION 67A

Richmond Fire Station 67A, located at 1131 Cutting

Boulevard, was built by the City of Richmond to

serve the Richmond Kaiser Shipyards. The historic

structure has been modernized and is currently in

use by the Richmond Fire Department. Although

identified in the park’s legislation as a site that could

be interpreted, improved, rehabilitated, or acquired,

the fire station is an active and necessary facility in

the City of Richmond. It is recommended that the

site be interpreted, as is, without interrupting its

public safety functions. If the fire station becomes

obsolete for public safety purposes, it could be reevaluated for its World War II-era role and its

potential value for interpretation. 

DESIGNATION OF ADDITIONAL PARK

SITES IN RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA

Section 3(g)(3) of the enabling legislation for Rosie

the Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park directed that “the general

management plan shall include a determination of

whether there are additional representative sites in

Richmond that should be added to the park....”

NPS Management Policies 2006 §2.3.1.1 requires that

potential modifications to the external boundaries

of a park—if any—and the reasons for the proposed

changes be included in the general management

plan. In 2004, a survey funded by the National Park

Service was conducted to identify potential World

War II-era sites in Richmond, California. In this

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
survey, Mapping Richmond’s World War II Home Front, author

Donna Graves concluded that dozens of buildings and sites

survive in Richmond that could contribute to the home front

story. Funding was not available to assess the historic fabric,

integrity, and detailed history of these buildings and sites. The

national historical park is a partnership park where historic sites

and structures listed in the park legislation are owned and

managed by public and private entities other than the National

Park Service. The legislation provides the opportunity for the

National Park Service to support this partnership by providing

technical assistance to these property owners in the areas of both

historic preservation and telling the home front stories. Any

future additions to the park boundary would continue to be in

ownership by nonfederal entities. Therefore, instead of a

determination, the general management plan provides the

following guidelines for bringing nonfederal historic properties

into the national historical park. This approach will provide for

greater flexibility to embrace future opportunities.

The general management plan recommends that if there are

willing property owners who desire to include their historic

properties as participating partners in the national historic park,

then the historic site(s) and structure(s) would be evaluated for

inclusion in the park as follows: 

A proposed historic property must 

(a) be determined eligible for listing in the National

Register of Historic Places by the California State

Historic Preservation Officer;

(b) have a direct connection to World War II home front

themes in Richmond, California; and 

(c) relate to the national historical park’s purpose,

significance, and interpretive themes.

Meeting these conditions would allow the historic property to be

included in the park pursuant to criteria for such determinations

as outlined in National Park Service Management Policies, 2006.

A NATIONAL THEME STUDY

In 2004, the National Historic Landmarks program in

Washington, DC, completed World War II and the American

Home Front: National Historic Landmark Theme Study to satisfy

Section 4 of the park’s enabling legislation. The study established

six topics under which properties could be considered as national

landmarks as well as the period of significance for the

association. The topics include production, manpower, politics

and government, civil rights, morale and propaganda, and home

defense during World War II. The period of significance begins in

1939, marking the year war broke out in Europe, and ends in

1945, the year World War II ended. Properties associated with

59

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
60

Japanese Americans during World War II were not

included in the home front study because they have

been covered in depth by another National Park

Service effort.

The study lists existing National Historic Landmarks

that are associated with the World War II home

front under one or more of the required criteria.

Not every criterion has an associated landmark

listing. The study lists National Register of Historic

Places properties with home front associations. The

study also includes a list of existing National

Historic Landmarks that could be reevaluated to

include the World War II home front association.

The study acknowledges the list is far from complete

of that alternative—more areas would be managed

for the desired characteristics described for that

park area.

Since these potential areas were developed through

this planning effort, they apply only to the two

action alternatives that also were developed through

this planning effort; the park area descriptions do

not apply to the no-action (current condition)

alternative.

DESCRIPTION OF PARK AREAS

Table 2 contains explanations of the five park areas

that have been developed for Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park. These park areas articulate the

desired conditions that the cooperating partners,

including the National Park Service, would strive to

accomplish over the life of the general management

plan. The park area descriptions include a future

vision for the area, cultural resource conditions,

type(s) of visitor experiences, and type(s) of

facilities that would be appropriate in that area. In

alternatives B and C, the park areas are applied to

the properties named in the park’s legislation in

different configurations to support each alternative’s

vision.

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES

and that many other places of national significance

may survive. It is the intent of the National Park

Service to work with these properties in order to

link them, where possible, to Richmond’s home

front story.

INTRODUCTION

In order to understand the alternatives, it is

important to remember that each alternative is made

up of three elements: those elements identified as

common to all the alternatives, park areas, and

elements specific to each alternative. The

descriptions associated with park areas (table 2)

identify desired future conditions of historic

resources and visitor opportunities at individual

park sites. 

As a result of this planning effort, five potential park

areas were identified for Rosie the Riveter/World

War II Home Front National Historical Park: a

Water Front Open Space Area, an Industrial/Port

Landscape Area, a Historic Backdrop Area, a

Historic Engagement Area, and an

Exhibits/Education Area. Each area is defined by

slightly different resource conditions, visitor

experiences, and potential facilities that could be

found in that particular area.

In formulating each action alternative (B and C),

these park areas were placed in different

configurations on a map of the park according to the

overall vision for each of the alternatives. An

alternative with a greater overall emphasis on visitor

interaction with the historic resources would have

more Historic Engagement Areas identified as part

Park Areas
61

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

Table 2. Description of Park Areas for Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park

Water Front Open Space Area

VISION FOR THIS 

PARK AREA

RESOURCE

CONDITION

VISITOR EXPERIENCE/

OPPORTUNITIES

FACILITIES

Public open spaces of the park are used to interpret Richmond's World War II

home front while providing for recreational opportunities, scenic viewing, and

memorials. 

The openness of the landscape provides opportunities for scenic views of 

existing World War II historic sites and structures as well as for visualizing the

location of World War II-era resources that have been removed but can still be

interpreted.

Through guided and self-guiding interpretive opportunities, visitors learn

about Richmond's World War II home front and the importance of Richmond's

Inner Harbor. The open spaces provide for recreational opportunities such as

picnicking, bicycling, birding, seeing historic structures and memorials, viewing

San Francisco Bay and the city of San Francisco, reading interpretive panels,

and sunbathing, as well as for contemplation, relaxation, and neighborhood

park activities.

Facilities include benches, walkways, picnic tables, interpretive markers, 

viewing platforms, maintained grassy areas, restrooms, water fountains, and

parking areas. 

NOTE: These park area descriptions are desired conditions for the various areas or sites within Rosie

the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park. Since Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical Park is a partnership park, achieving these future conditions will

require coordination and agreements between cooperating partners and owners of the historic sites

and structures throughout the life of this plan. Not all of these park areas apply to the two action

alternatives.

Industrial/Port Landscape Area

VISION FOR THIS 

PARK AREA

RESOURCE

CONDITION

VISITOR EXPERIENCE/

OPPORTUNITIES

FACILITIES

The industrial landscape is used to interpret the Richmond World War II home

front, while modern industrial port activities continue.

The industrial setting of Richmond's World War II home front is maintained

through the preservation of the exterior features of World War II-era historic

structures listed in the park's enabling legislation. Many of the historic structures that contribute to the World War II-era scene can be viewed from within

and outside the park, providing a historic backdrop for the industrial waterfront. The interior spaces of historic structures are adapted to accommodate

contemporary commercial or industrial uses.

Visitors are able to see the industrial landscape (including current port 

operations) from a secure area. The port and industrial sites provide a sense of

scale for visitors to understand the size of the World War II shipyard 

operations. Cooperating partners provide guided and self-guiding visitor

opportunities within a designated area.

Visitor facilities are developed that support interpretation, visitor safety and

port security; enhance historic or scenic views; or are necessary to provide 

controlled and guided access through a site. 
62

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES

Historic Backdrop Area

VISION FOR THIS 

PARK AREA

RESOURCE

CONDITION

VISITOR EXPERIENCE/

OPPORTUNITIES

FACILITIES

Park sites and structures retain their World War II home front-era exterior

appearance. Visitors might not have access to the historic resources other than

to see them and learn about them from locations outside the sites and 

structures. The interiors of historic structures are used for contemporary 

purposes.

Historic characteristics of structures' exterior and landscape features retain

their World War II-era appearance. Interior spaces of historic structures are

adapted to accommodate various contemporary uses.

Generally, visitors do not have direct access to the sites and structures that are

in this park area. The historic features provide scale and contribute to the 

historic landscapes that are interpreted from outside the area.

Visitor facilities are located outside the park area and might include 

interpretive markers, signs, benches, and viewpoints.

Historic Engagement Area

VISION FOR THIS 

PARK AREA

RESOURCE

CONDITION

VISITOR EXPERIENCE/

OPPORTUNITIES

FACILITIES

All or portions of the historic sites and structures reflect their World War II-era

appearance and use. These sites and structures provide visitors with a sense of

what life in Richmond (and by extension, throughout the United States) was

like during World War II.

Much of the interior, exterior, and immediate setting of the historic sites and

structures reflect Richmond's World War II home front era.

Visitors are engaged in a historic World War II home front historic setting.

They have opportunities for guided and self-guiding tours. A variety of handson activities make historic sites come alive and involve visitors in activities of

the past. Visitors experience many sights, sounds, and activities that reflect the

World War II time period.

Visitor facilities blend into the historic fabric of the World War II-era sites and

structures. Facilities support the visitor experience while maintaining World

War II-era features and characteristics.

Exhibits/Education Area

VISION FOR THIS 

PARK AREA

RESOURCE

CONDITION

VISITOR EXPERIENCE/

OPPORTUNITIES

FACILITIES

The historic sites, structures, or landscapes are adaptively used for 

interpretation, exhibits, education, and visitor information and orientation,

while reflecting some of their World War II-era characteristics.

Selected historic characteristics of the exteriors of Richmond's World War II-era

structures are maintained. The interior spaces might be adapted to 

accommodate interpretive activities, museum exhibits, curatorial needs, 

administrative offices, visitor services, and other contemporary park-related

activities and programs.

Visitors have a variety of learning opportunities that accommodate a wide

range of interests and age groups. Examples include, but are not limited to,

the following: interactive exhibits, films, interpretive activities, formal 

educational courses, and seminars. 

Facilities are provided that support visitor access and participation in the 

interpretive and educational programs. In addition, visitor-oriented services,

such as food services, retail outlets, and touring services could be provided to 

complement park programming. 
INTRODUCTION

General management plans are required to include identification

of and implementation commitments for user capacities for all

areas of the park. The National Park Service defines user capacity

as the type and level of visitor use that can be accommodated

while sustaining the quality of park resources and visitor

opportunities consistent with the purposes of the park. It is not

necessarily a set of numbers or limits, but rather it is a process

that involves establishing desired conditions, monitoring,

evaluating, and taking actions (managing visitor use) to ensure

that park values are protected. 

The premise behind this approach to user capacity is that with

any use of park resources comes some level of impact that must

be accepted. At Rosie the Riveter/World War II National

Historical Park, it is the goal of the National Park Service working

with cooperating partners to preserve the historic resources that

are important to telling the stories of the World War II home

front. 

Instead of solely tracking and controlling user numbers, the

National Park Service and its cooperating partners could manage

the levels, types, behaviors, and patterns of visitor use and other

public uses as needed to maintain the condition of the resources

and quality of the visitor experience. The suggested monitoring

component of the user capacity process helps test the

effectiveness of management actions and provides a basis for

informed adaptive management of visitor use.

DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

The user capacity decision-making process can be summarized

by the following major planning and management steps:

1. Establish desired conditions for resources, visitor

experiences, and types/levels of development.

2. Identify indicators and standards to measure success at

achieving desired conditions.

3. Monitor conditions in relation to indicators and

standards.

4. Take appropriate management action to maintain or

rehabilitate conditions.

The foundation for user capacity decision making is in this

general management plan’s qualitative descriptions of desired

resource conditions, visitor experience opportunities, and general

levels of development and management. 

63

User Capacity
64

The general management plan also includes the

identification of potential indicators that could be

monitored as needed in the future to help identify if

desired conditions are not being met due to

unacceptable impacts from public use. An indicator

is a measurable variable that can be used to track

changes in conditions related to human activity, so

that progress towards desired conditions can be

assessed. In the future, when the park selects an

indicator to monitor, a corresponding standard will

be identified. A standard is the management decision

about the minimum acceptable condition for an

indicator. In addition, this plan suggests a general

range of actions that may be taken, as needed, to

avoid and minimize unacceptable impacts from

public use.

The last steps of user capacity decision making,

which continue indefinitely, are monitoring the

park’s indicators and standards and, when needed,

taking management actions to minimize impacts. 

The suggested strategy of addressing user capacity at

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front

National Historical Park is a tiered approach that

would keep a general eye on use levels and patterns

while focusing more specific monitoring and

management on areas where action is most likely

needed to achieve desired conditions. 

• Constraints

In addition to defining desired conditions and

related indicators and standards, there are certain

constraints on visitor use levels, activities, and

patterns that are inherent in managing cultural

resources at the national historical park because of

their size and past industrial uses. These

facilities/resources have finite space to

accommodate visitors and also have potential

hazardous areas, requiring a high degree of control

on visitor access and freedom. For instance, the SS

Red Oak Victory is a historic ship in the process of

rehabilitation, with small spaces, uneven surfaces,

narrow stairs, and other constraints that require

visitors to be guided throughout their visit to ensure

safety. These types of constraints are found primarily

at historic Shipyard No. 3 and throughout the

historic buildings and structures in addition to the

SS Red Oak Victory.

• Potential Indicators 

Table 3 outlines possible resource and visitor

experience concerns that might result from public

use (both parkwide and by sites within the park) and

the associated indicators that may be monitored, as

needed, to assess those impacts. Also, a general

range of potential management actions is identified

for each indicator.

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
65

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

Concerns Indicators Possible Management Action

Parking in undesignated 

locations

Conflicts between

commercial/industrial traffic and

visitor traffic

Trampling of vegetation

Graffiti on interpretive panels

Conflicts between different user

groups on trails or in open space

areas

Number of cars parked in 

undesignated locations

Number of complaints regarding

traffic conflicts between different

user types 

or 

Percent of time (or number of

incidences) that

commercial/industrial traffic is

delayed due to visitor traffic, 

or 

level of service of roadways 

or

number of accidents related to

traffic conflicts between different

user types 

Total area denuded of vegetation

Number of incidences of graffiti

per month/year on interpretive

panels

Number of complaints regarding

user conflicts on trails 

or

number of accidents between

user groups on trails

Increase no-parking signs;

encourage non-vehicular access

to the park via trails, water

access, and shuttles; increase

enforcement of no-parking

areas; increase parking 

opportunities in alternate 

locations (if appropriate); etc.

Encourage non-vehicular access

to the park via trails, water

access, and shuttles; change 

visitor access points and 

associated traffic patterns; work

with commercial/industrial 

stakeholders along the road 

corridor to retime or redistribute

commercial/industrial traffic 

patterns; etc.

Increase education to visitors to

stay on designated pathways,

limit access to certain areas with

fencing or other barriers, use

more resilient vegetation; etc.

Educate visitors about the 

damage and cost of graffiti,

increase enforcement, change

interpretive panels to designs

that minimize incidences and/or

replacement costs, etc. 

Educate visitors on trail 

etiquette, educate visitors to

redistribute use to off-peak days

or times of day, restrict certain

uses on trails or in open-space

areas, make some trails for 

single-use only, etc.

Water Front Park Area

Table 3. Concerns, Indicators, and Possible Management Actions

Parkwide
66

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES

Historic Engagement Area

Concerns Indicators Possible Management Action

Damage to exhibits

Crowding inside historic sites

that leads to obstructed views of

exhibits and programs

Waiting time to gain access to

major attractions or programs

Intrusive human-created sounds

that interfere with educational

opportunities

Damage to exhibits

Number of incidences of damage

to exhibits per month/year

Percent of time that exhibits or

program opportunities are 

inaccessible to visitors 

or

Number of complaints related to

crowding and/or inability to see

exhibits/programs

Number of minutes needed to

access major attraction or 

programs

Number of complaints related to

intrusive human-caused sounds 

or

Proportion of time that 

human-caused sounds are above

a certain decibel level

Number of incidences of damage

to exhibits per month/year

Educate visitors on the damage

and cost of depreciative behavior

and vandalism, reduce contact

between visitors and exhibits

with barriers and signs, increase

enforcement, change exhibit

designs to minimize incidences

and/or replacement costs, etc.

Education to encourage visitors

to visit on off-peak times during

the week or day, direct visitors to

alternate locations in the park,

instituting a reservation/permit

system to redistribute and/or

limit use, retiming or 

redistributing exhibits and/or

program opportunities, etc.

Education to encourage visitors

to visit on off-peak times during

the week or day, directing 

visitors to alternate locations in

the park, instituting a 

reservation/permit system to

redistribute and/or limit use, etc.

Education on keeping sounds

levels low, group size limits,

redistribution of large groups

and/or organized groups to 

off-peak times, etc.

Education on the damage and

cost of depreciative behavior,

reduction in contact between

visitors and exhibits with barriers

and signs, increased 

enforcement, changes to exhibit

designs to minimize incidences

and/or replacement costs, etc.

Exhibits/Education Area

Industrial/Port Landscape Area

Historic Backdrop Area

User capacity indicators are not applicable because visitor use would be restricted or highly controlled via

guided tours.

User capacity indicators are not applicable because visitor use would be restricted. 
CURRENT MANAGEMENT DIRECTION –

ALTERNATIVE A

The national historical park offers self-guiding opportunities for

visitors to view surviving fabric of Richmond’s World War II sites

and structures. Visitors have access to a small home front exhibit

at Richmond City Hall. The map on page 72, entitled Alternative

A, displays the existing conditions as described below.

VISITOR EXPERIENCE IN ALTERNATIVE A

Visitors, using self-guiding brochures or on National Park Service

guided tours, see the exteriors of some of Richmond’s World War

II historic sites and structures.

Visitors start their tour at a small self-service visitor orientation

center located in Richmond City Hall South. Exhibits help

67

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

Alternative A:

“No Action”

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical

Park is a partnership park that includes many public and 

private entities working collaboratively with the National Park

Service to preserve historic World War II resources and tell

America's home front stories. 

The collaborative nature of the park requires a commitment to

building and sustaining relationships with individuals, 

neighbors, cooperating partners, and other communities of

interest. Partners include citizens, communities, and private,

governmental, and nonprofit entities that—through 

agreements and shared common goals—work together to

achieve the mission of the national historical park.

Under the no-action alternative, current park management

would continue and the National Park Service would continue

to facilitate and develop partnerships to provide for mutual

benefit among participants and to achieve the park's 

legislated mandates. 

The National Park Service would provide opportunities for 

individuals and groups to tell their own stories at park sites

and would encourage the telling of home front stories

throughout the greater Richmond community and across

America. The goal of these activities is to nurture stewardship

of the multilayered World War II home front experience and

legacy and to facilitate conversations that lead to a shared

understanding of the full meaning and contemporary 

relevance of the World War II home front.
68

introduce visitors to Richmond’s World War II

resources. In addition, visitors can get orientation

information from the park’s website.

The Rosie the Riveter Memorial and numerous

other open space parks along with the Bay Trail

provide views of many of the major World War II

historic sites located along the waterfront associated

with the Kaiser shipyards. Wayside panels tell the

Richmond and national home front stories. 

Visitors have limited, controlled access to a portion

of historic Richmond Shipyard No. 3 in order to visit

the SS Red Oak Victory and see the whirley crane. 

Visitation to the park is estimated to be low in this

alternative because only a few sites and structures

would be accessible and there would be limited

programs available for visitors (see Chapter 4, “Table

11: Visitation Estimates”). National homefront

stories are available to the pulbic on the NPS cultural

resoruce website (www.cr.nps.gov). 

HISTORIC RESOURCE CONDITIONS IN

ALTERNATIVE A 

Cooperating partners who own and manage park

resources are exploring opportunities to rehabilitate

or retain their buildings’ historic World War II-era

façades and landscapes. Most of the park’s historic

buildings and structures are used for contemporary

public and private purposes not related to Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park. National Park Service staff pursue

opportunities to add historic markers and

interpretive signs at designated park sites. 

MANAGEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL PARK

SITES IN ALTERNATIVE A

• Ford Assembly Building

Visitor Experience

Visitors view the exterior of the building and,

through interpretive signs, learn of its significance to

Richmond’s home front. Locations around the

building offer views of historic Richmond Shipyard

No. 3 and the SS Red Oak Victory, which is berthed

at the south end of shipyard. 

Resource Conditions

The exterior façade of the Ford Assembly Building

maintains its 1940s appearance and is preserved to

retain its historic qualities as required by the Federal

Preservation Tax Incentives Program, while the

interior is adapted to accommodate contemporary

uses.

The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives

program is one of the nation’s most successful and

cost-effective community revitalization programs.

The program fosters private sector rehabilitation of

historic buildings and promotes economic

revitalization. The Federal Historic Preservation Tax

Incentives are available for buildings that are

National Historic Landmarks, that are listed in the

National Register of Historic Places, and that

contribute to National Register Historic Districts

and certain local historic districts. Properties must

be income-producing and must be rehabilitated

according to standards set by the secretary of the

interior. 

Visitors Service and Facilities

Some of the commercial opportunities within the

Ford Assembly Building may support visitor use at

the site. On-site and street parking are available at

this site. At some time in the future, visitors would

have access to the craneway—the area over water

that is owned by the City of Richmond—where they

may encounter limited interpretation of the

historical park.

• Richmond Shipyard No. 3 /

SS Red Oak Victory

Visitor Experience

In the no-action alternative, visitors have limited

access to Richmond Shipyard No. 3 to explore the

SS Red Oak Victory and see the whirley crane. The

majority of the shipyard is closed to public access.

By seeing the contemporary industrial port

operations up close, visitors are provided an

opportunity to better understand the size and scale

of the port’s historic and contemporary use. 

Panoramic views of Shipyard No. 3 and over the San

Francisco Bay are available from aboard the SS Red

Oak Victory, providing visitors with a better

understanding of the layout of the historic shipyard

and the importance of the land-sea connection in

Richmond.

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
Since there is a mix of port and visitor activities in this alternative,

cooperating partners continue to work with the Port of

Richmond to address issues that include visitor access, safety, and

changing standards of city and port security.

Resource Conditions

Richmond Shipyard No. 3 is a National Register Historic District

that contains six World War II-era historic buildings (Sheet Metal

Shop, General Warehouse, Machine Shop, Forge Shop, First Aid

Station, and Cafeteria) and five graving basins/dry docks. (see

aerial view on page 77).

In alternative A, the majority of the historic buildings and

structures are used for contemporary industrial port purposes.

While the exterior of the historic structures retain their World

War II-era appearance, the interior spaces could be modified and

adapted for contemporary purposes unrelated to the national

historical park. 

The Richmond Museum Association would continue to

rehabilitate the SS Red Oak Victory to highlight its World War II

historic values and provide for visitor access to the ship. 

Visitor Services and Facilities

Visitor facilities include interpretive signs, on-site parking, and a

controlled access route to portions of Richmond Shipyard No. 3,

SS Red Oak Victory, and a whirley crane. 

• Child Development Centers

Visitor Experience

Visitors on guided tours or with self-guiding brochures can visit

the exteriors of the Maritime Child Development Center and

Ruth C. Powers Child Development Center. Through interpretive

brochures, or with the help of tour guides, they learn about these

buildings and their contributions to World War II-era Richmond. 

Resource Conditions

Although modernized for contemporary uses, the characterdefining historic architectural features of the child development

centers could be maintained. 

Visitor Services and Facilities

Self-guiding brochures and street parking are available to park

visitors.

• World War II Worker Housing 

Visitor Experience

With a self-guiding brochure or on a scheduled guided tour,

visitors see surviving examples of World War II-era worker

housing, including Atchison Village, and learn about the housing

challenges facing a wartime boomtown like Richmond. 

69

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
70

Resource Conditions

The surviving World War II-era worker housing is

being maintained by private owners, homeowner

associations, cooperatives, and the Richmond

Housing Authority. The National Park Service

provides limited technical assistance in historic

preservation to owners of World War II-era housing

in retaining the1940s-era appearance of these

houses. 

Visitor Services and Facilities

Historical markers could be located at selected sites,

as owners allow. 

• Kaiser Permanente Field Hospital

Visitor Experience

Visitors with a self-guiding brochure or on a guided

tour can see the former Kaiser Permanente Field

Hospital from the sidewalk or street. 

Resource Conditions

The facility is privately owned. The historic structure

of the Kaiser Permanente Field Hospital is being

adapted to accommodate contemporary uses

unrelated to the park. 

Visitor Services and Facilities

Self-guiding brochures and street parking are

available to park visitors. 

• National Park Service Museum Collection

Visitor Experience

Visitors have access to a portion of the park’s

collection through conducted tours and the park’s

website. 

Resource Conditions

The National Park Service continues its nationwide

effort to collect and maintain oral histories and

associated objects, artifacts, and images relating to

the World War II home front and Rosie the Riveter. 

Visitor Services and Facilities

The National Park Service maintains the park

museum collection at park headquarters.

• National Park Service Headquarters

Visitor Experience

The administrative and staff offices would continue

to be open during normal business hours and visitor

access would continue to be controlled.

Resource Conditions

The National Park Service headquarters is colocated with the City of Richmond offices.

Visitor Services and Facilities

Visitors receive orientation to the park at a small

self-service visitor orientation center located in the

Richmond City Hall South building.

ROLE OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

IN ALTERNATIVE A

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front

National Historical Park is a partnership park that

includes many public and private entities working in

collaboration with the National Park Service for the

preservation of the historic World War II-era

resources while providing for visitor access and

interpretation. In working with other cooperating

partners to implement alternative A over the 15- to

20-year term of this plan, the National Park Service

would pursue the following actions: 

 Provide self-guiding tour brochures to visitors

at Richmond City Hall and at designated park

sites.

 Operate a small self-service visitor orientation

center at interim Richmond City Hall South.

 Provide occasional tours and programs, by

appointment, that engage limited numbers of

visitors and residents with Richmond’s World

War II home front resources.

 Provide technical assistance and support for

interpretive waysides at sites and structures that

represent the home front story in Richmond.

 Coordinate and encourage individuals and

groups to develop World War II home front

interpretive opportunities such as community

and regional events, signs, and educational

programs.

 Develop interpretation standards and provide

technical assistance and training in telling Rosie

the Riveter and World War II home front

stories.

 Maintain a National Park Service website that

can link to and from other websites that tell

American World War II home front stories.

 Assist with studies and reports, and, when

possible, provide professional/technical

assistance that supports preservation of the

character-defining features of World War II-era

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
home front sites and structures named in the park’s

legislation.

 Collect and preserve World War II home front oral and

written histories and their associated artifacts and archives.

 Continue to maintain the park museum collection at park

headquarters.

 Continue to co-locate the administrative office for Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

with the offices of the City of Richmond.

ESTIMATED COSTS: ALTERNATIVE A

The estimated costs in table 4 reflect only those costs associated

with the actions of the National Park Service in implementing the

“no-action” alternative A. These costs do not include costs that

might be incurred by cooperating partners. Costs associated with

the actions of cooperating partners are not easily predictable,

given the various goals, multiple nonpark-related uses, and levels

of effort and commitment. 

The cost figures shown here and throughout the plan are

intended only to provide an estimate of the relative costs of

alternatives. NPS and industry cost estimating guidelines were

used to develop the costs to the extent possible, but the estimates

should not be used for budgeting purposes. Most of the specifics

about development and management actions will be decided in

subsequent, more detailed planning and design exercises, and

will consider the design of facilities, identification of detailed

resource protection needs, and changing visitor expectations.

Actual costs to the National Park Service will vary depending on

if and when the actions are implemented, and on contributions

by partners and volunteers.

The implementation of the approved plan, no matter which

alternative, will depend on future NPS funding levels and

Servicewide priorities, and on partnership funds, time, and effort.

The approval of a general management plan does not guarantee

that funding and staffing needed to implement the plan will be

forthcoming. Full implementation of the plan could be many

years in the future.

71

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
72

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
73

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

NPS Annual Operating Costs(1) $700,000

NPS Staffing Levels(2) 6.5

(Full Time Equivalent)

Total Estimated Annual Costs $700,000

NPS Facility Construction (interpretive exhibits/signs)(3) $200,000

Non-Facility Costs (not covered by Annual Operating Costs listed above)(4) $0

Total Estimated One-Time Costs $200,000

Alternative A: No Action

Table 4: Estimated Costs to the National Park Service (NPS) – Alternative A

One Time Costs

Annual Operations

(1) Annual operating costs are the total annual costs for NPS maintenance and operations associated with

each alternative, including: maintenance, utilities, supplies, staff salaries and benefits, leasing, and other

materials. 

(2) Total FTEs are the number of full time equivalent employees required to maintain the NPS role and operations, provide technical assistance with resource protection and in telling the park stories, and for other

support. In alternative A, the current staff of this new park is shared among the four East Bay national park

sites.

(3) One-time facility costs include those for the design, construction, rehabilitations, administrative facilities,

interpretive exhibits/signs, visitor and educational facilities, maintenance facilities, museum collection

facilities, and other visitor support facilities.

(4) One-time non-facility costs include actions for the preservation of cultural or natural resources not 

related to facilities, the development of visitor use tools not related to facilities, and other park 

management activities. 
74

VISION FOR ALTERNATIVE B

In alternative B, Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical Park would provide

visitors with opportunities to explore Richmond’s

World War II-era historic sites and structures to

experience the scale and diversity of the American

home front story. In this alternative, visitors would

be able to view the exteriors and access some

rehabilitated interiors of structures where artifacts,

exhibits, and programs would connect visitors with

park themes. The World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center, located at the Ford

Assembly Building, would interpret the national

home front effort and orient visitors to Richmond’s

sites and stories.

Alternative B: Explore Richmond

to Understand the National

Home Front Story

(The NPS Preferred Alternative)

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical

Park is a partnership park that includes many public and

private entities working collaboratively with the National Park

Service to preserve historic World War II resources and tell

America's home front stories. 

The collaborative nature of Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical Park requires a commitment to

building and sustaining relationships with individuals,

neighbors, cooperating partners, and other communities of

interest. 

This section describes the vision of how the park could evolve

if alternative B were implemented. Implementation of this

vision would take the commitment and coordination of many

cooperating partners. These partners include citizens,

communities, and private, governmental, and nonprofit

entities that—through agreements and shared common

goals—work together to achieve the mission of the national

historical park. The National Park Service would continue to

facilitate and develop these partnerships to provide for mutual

benefit among participants and to achieve the park's legislated

mandates.

The National Park Service would provide opportunities for

individuals and groups to tell their own stories at park sites

and would encourage the telling of home front stories

throughout the greater Richmond community and across

America. The goal of these activities is to nurture stewardship

of the multilayered World War II home front experience and

legacy and to facilitate conversations that lead to a shared

understanding of the full meaning and contemporary

relevance of the World War II home front.
VISITOR EXPERIENCE IN ALTERNATIVE B

In alternative B, park visitors would have opportunities

throughout the City of Richmond to explore World War II home

front sites, structures, and stories. The many aspects of the

Richmond home front experience are representative of other

World War II home front experiences from across the nation; by

exploring Richmond’s stories, visitors could gain an

understanding and appreciation of the national World War II

home front effort. 

Visitors could access selected interior and exterior portions of

Richmond’s World War II-era historic sites and structures. These

historic resources are evocative of the World War II era and

would provide the opportunity for the Richmond community to

tell their own home front stories and to share their city’s legacy

with park visitors.

In Alternative B, visitors would have access to Shipyard No. 3, the

Ford Assembly Building, and the waterfront—to better

understand the scope and scale of the wartime industries of

Richmond. In addition, visitors would have access to many

community sites related to home front life, including housing

areas and child care facilities. At these sites, visitors could gain a

better understanding of the social aspects of Richmond’s home

front.

At the visitor/education center, visitors could see, hear, and

reflect on the national stories, events, and contributions of

Americans who experienced the World War II years. The

visitor/education center would link the Richmond sites to each

other and to stories and sites throughout the United States.

Visitation to the park is estimated to be high in this alternative

because many park sites would be accessible and a diversity of

on-site programs would be available (see chapter 4, Table 11:

Visitation Estimates).

HISTORIC RESOURCE CONDITIONS IN

ALTERNATIVE B

In alternative B, many of Richmond’s World War II sites and

structures would be rehabilitated to reflect their historic

appearance, contributing to the stories that they represent. Some

portions of the historic sites and structures would be accessible to

the public, even if the structures were used for contemporary

purposes unrelated to the park. World War II artifacts that

contribute to the historic appearance and stories of Richmond’s

home front would be collected and used at the appropriate park

sites.

75

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
76

VISIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL PARK SITES

IN ALTERNATIVE B

In addition to the elements described under the

heading “Elements Common to All Alternatives,”

near the beginning of this chapter, the following

narrative describes the future vision for each

individual park site and resource. Because Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park is a partnership park,

implementation of these visions will take the

commitment and coordination of many park

partners. The map on page 83, entitled Alternative B,

displays the park areas as described below. 

• Ford Assembly Building

In alternative B, two park areas have been identified

for the Ford Assembly Building. The characteristics

of these desired future park areas are described in

table 2. The World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center and the walkway along the

building’s waterfront would be in the Exhibit

Education Area, where visitors would receive

information, interpretation, and orientation to

Richmond’s home front stories. The remainder of

the site and associated structures would be in the

Historic Backdrop Area, where the exteriors would

help visitors understand the size, scale, and historic

characteristics of Richmond’s home front. 

Visitor Experience

The World War II Home Front Visitor /Education

Center, located in the waterfront portion of the Ford

Assembly Building that is referred to as the

craneway, would be the gateway for visitors to Rosie

the Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park. At the visitor/education center,

visitors could 1) be introduced to the park purpose,

themes, and the opportunities to explore the

Richmond World War II home front; 2) view

exhibits, artifacts, and documented histories that

link the historic sites of Richmond with each other

and with home front stories and sites throughout the

nation; 3) explore the World War II stories and

activities that the Ford Assembly Building

represents; 4) learn from community members

about Richmond’s World War II home front stories

and experiences; and 5) use evolving Internet and

digital technology to explore World War II home

front sites throughout the United States.

Visitors to the Ford Assembly Building could explore

the World War II stories that are represented in this

structure. Walking along the outside of the building

to experience its length, viewing the historic

architecture, and experiencing the spatial

relationships of this site in comparison to Shipyard

No. 3 and other park sites, would help visitors

understand Richmond’s wartime industrial home

front. The views from the Ford Assembly Building to

various park sites and communities around San

Francisco Bay would provide visitors with a central

overview that illustrates the importance of

Richmond’s World War II home front effort.

Historic Resource Conditions 

In Alternative B, the exterior of the building is

preserved to retain its historic qualities as defined by

the Federal Preservation Tax Incentive Program. The

interior of the Ford Assembly Building is adaptively

used for contemporary purposes. A portion of the

interior is rehabilitated to reflect its World War II

use and to highlight the architectural features of this

structure designed by Albert Kahn.

Visitor Services and Facilities

The World War II Home Front Visitor/Education

Center would consist of an information station,

observation areas, exhibits and models, and access

to the park’s oral and written history collections and

artifacts. The Rosie the Riveter Trust would provide

additional visitor support and retail services within

the visitor/education center. Some commercial

opportunities within the other parts of the Ford

Assembly Building, such as food vendors and retail

services, could accommodate visitors as well. 

• Richmond Shipyard No. 3 /

SS Red Oak Victory

In alternative B, there would be two park areas for

Shipyard No. 3. The characteristics of these desired

future park areas are described in table 2. The

historic district along the waterfront and the SS Red

Oak Victory would be in the Historic Engagement

Area to enable visitors to experience many sights

and sounds associated with World War II-era

shipyard operations. The remaining area of Shipyard

No. 3 would be in the Industrial/Port Landscape

Area—while allowing for contemporary port

activities, this area would provide visitors with a

sense of size and scale represented by the open

industrial landscape. Over the next 25 years, the

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
Historic Engagement Area could be enlarged upon reevaluation

of the needs and goals of the Port of Richmond. 

Visitor Experience

In alternative B, visitors could explore some of the World War II

sites and structures in the historic district of Shipyard No. 3

including the two southernmost graving basins/dry docks, general

warehouse, sheet metal shop, whirley crane(s), and Berth 6A,

where the SS Red Oak Victory is docked. The remaining

structures and areas of Richmond Shipyard No. 3 would continue

to support contemporary port operations. 

If port operations change in the future, additional areas of the

historic district may become available for visitor opportunities.

Future expansions could include portions of the six remaining

Kaiser Shipyard buildings (including the cafeteria, the first aid

station, and the machine shop) and other areas that would help

visitors understand the operations and scale of a World War II

shipyard.

77

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

Berth 6A

Sheet Metal Shop

General Warehouse

Machine Shop

Forge Shop

First Aid 

Station

Cafeteria

Graving Basins/

Dry Docks

Graving Basins/

Dry Docks

Historic Shipyard No. 3, ca 2000. National Park Service

Forge Shop

Cafeteria

First Aid 

Station

Machine Shop

General Warehouse
78

To better interpret Shipyard No. 3, some interiors of

the historic structures could be modified to reflect

their World War II uses. In addition, in alternative B,

visitors could explore the historic Kaiser shipyard

through models, artifacts, exhibits, demonstrations,

and other interpretive programming. Park visitors to

Shipyard No. 3 would have opportunities to learn

from community members about Richmond’s World

War II home front stories and experiences. 

In alternative B, the mooring of the SS Red Oak

Victory at Berth 6A in Shipyard No. 3 would provide

another means for visitors to appreciate the scale

and immensity of the shipyard operations; visitors

would have an opportunity to tour a surviving

Victory ship that was built and launched in

Richmond in 1944. 

The views of Shipyard No. 3 from the SS Red Oak

Victory would provide visitors with a comprehensive

understanding of the historic shipyards layout. In

addition, visitors would have views of the City of

San Francisco and the San Francisco Bay. These

views could help visitors understand the importance

of the land and sea connection and the shipyard’s

relationship to the international war effort. 

The cooperating partners would continue to work

with the Port of Richmond to address issues that

include visitor access, safety, and changing standards

of port security.

Historic Resource Conditions

Richmond Shipyard No. 3 is a National Register

Historic District that contains six World War II-era

historic buildings (sheet metal shop, general

warehouse, machine shop, forge shop, first aid

station, and cafeteria), whirley crane, and five

graving basins/dry docks. In alternative B, the

historic shipyard and its World War II structures

would provide the setting for visitors to experience

and explore the fabric of a wartime shipyard: its

scale, how it operated, and its role within the

context of the nation’s war effort. In this alternative,

historic structures would be managed to retain their

World War II-era appearance. Some of the interiors

of historic structures would be rehabilitated and

used to illustrate World War II shipyard uses.

Interiors of other historic structures would continue

to be used for contemporary uses by cooperating

partners and port operations.

In alternative B, the SS Red Oak Victory would

continue to be moored at Berth 6A in Shipyard No.

3. The Richmond Museum Association would

continue the rehabilitation of the ship to operational

condition, reflecting many of its World War II-era

attributes, and would continue to provide for visitor

access.

Visitor Services and Facilities

Visitor facilities that would be provided by

cooperating partners would support visitor use at

this site. These facilities may include on-site parking,

restrooms, food service, and retail opportunities

related to the visitor experience and understanding

of the park interpretive themes.

• Child Development Centers

In alternative B, a small portion of the Maritime

Child Development Center would be in the Historic

Engagement Area to provide visitors with sights,

sounds, and activities experienced by the children of

war workers. The remainder of the site and structure

would be in the Historic Backdrop Area to provide

visitors with a visual context for exploring the issues

of family life during World War II. The Ruth C.

Powers Child Development Center would be in the

Historic Backdrop Area, as well. The characteristics

of these desired future park areas are described in

table 2.

Visitor Experience 

Maritime Child Development Center. In

alternative B, visitors could explore a portion of the

Maritime Child Development Center that reflects its

1940s use and appearance. They could learn about

the social aspects of the American home front and

the necessity of providing 24-hour child care for the

families of the war workers. Since the Maritime

Child Development Center is surrounded by World

War II-era housing, the visitors would receive

orientation here to the larger war worker

community. In addition, visitors could explore the

historic child development center through artifacts,

exhibits, and other interpretive programming.

Ruth C. Powers Child Development Center. In

this alternative, visitors with self-guiding brochures

or participating on guided tours could visit the site

of the Ruth C. Powers Child Development Center.

They could learn about its role in World War II

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
Richmond through interpretive signs, brochures, and guides.

Historic Resource Conditions

Maritime Child Development Center. In alternative B,

cooperating partners would reconstruct the Maritime Child

Development Center for contemporary uses while preserving

some portion of the interior to reflect the center’s World War II

character. The façade and landscape of the Maritime Child

Development Center would be rehabilitated to a condition that

reflects the center’s World War II heritage.

Ruth C. Powers Child Development Center. Cooperating

partners would rehabilitate the Ruth C. Powers Child

Development Center for contemporary uses not related to the

park. The façade and landscape of the Ruth C. Powers Child

Development Center would be rehabilitated to a condition that

reflects the center’s World War II heritage 

Visitor Services and Facilities 

Maritime Child Development Center. In alternative B, visitor

facilities would include an interpretive facility, restrooms, and

interpretive signs. Street parking and local bus service would be

available to visitors. 

Ruth C. Powers Child Development Center. Visitor facilities at

this child development center would include interpretive signs.

Street parking and local bus service would be available to visitors.

• World War II Worker Housing and the Home

Front Community

In alternative B, the sites and structures that contribute to World

War II worker housing and home front community would be

included in the Historic Backdrop Area, allowing for

contemporary use yet providing visitors with a visual setting to

better understand the community life of a war worker. 

Visitor Experience 

In alternative B, visitors could learn about the World War II home

front housing in the context of the home front community.

Visitors would have the opportunity, within easy walking distance

of the Maritime Child Development Center, to walk a home front

neighborhood; the Maritime Child Development Center would

serve as the gateway to the war worker community and provide

orientation and programming information. Beginning at this

location, visitors could learn about the housing challenges and

different types of war worker housing before exploring the

historic sites in the surrounding neighborhood and commercial

district. Guided and self-guiding tours and interpretive signs

would allow visitors to learn what life might have been like for a

wartime worker in Richmond. and other parts of the country.

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Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
80

Visitor opportunities could expand in the future to

include other aspects of life in World War II-era

Richmond. If cooperating partners and

entrepreneurs embrace this vision, World War II-era

movie houses, dance halls, and retail shops could be

developed to enhance the visitor experience.

Historic Resource Conditions

Sites and structures within this area would reflect

their World War II-era appearance while

accommodating contemporary uses. 

Visitor Services and Facilities 

In alternative B, a small orientation center would be

located in the Maritime Child Development Center

and self-guiding brochures would be available there.

Interpretive signs would be located at some of the

historic sites and structures. Street parking and local

bus service would be available to visitors.

• Kaiser Permanente Field Hospital

The historic Kaiser Permanente Field Hospital is

privately owned and is being adapted for

contemporary use unrelated to the park. 

In alternative B, it is envisioned that a small portion

of the World War II-era structure would be in the

Historic Engagement Area while the remainder of

the site would be in the Historic Backdrop Area. The

Historic Engagement Area would involve visitors

with the work of health care providers and the

health care issues of war workers during World War

II. The Historic Backdrop Area would provide a

visual 1940s-era backdrop for telling the story.

Visitor Experience

The vision in alternative B is for park visitors to

explore a portion of the former Kaiser Permanente

Field Hospital to learn about the three-tier Kaiser

health system, why Kaiser decided to provide health

care to shipyard workers, and how that program

evolved to influence contemporary health care

programs.

Historic Resource Conditions 

In alternative B, a small portion of the World War II

structure’s interior would be rehabilitated to reflect

its 1940s appearance while continuing to

accommodate contemporary uses. The façade and

landscape could be rehabilitated to reflect its World

War II-era heritage. 

Visitor Services and Facilities 

Facilities that support visitor uses at this park site

could include a small interpretive facility and signs.

Street parking and local bus service would be

available to visitors.

• National Park Service Museum

Collections

Visitor Experience

In alternative B, visitors would have the opportunity

to learn, through access to oral and written histories

and programs evolving from them, about Rosie the

Riveter and the American World War II home front

directly from individuals who experienced those

years. Many artifacts (and their reproductions)

would be incorporated into the historic scenes of

selected park sites as a means to help visitors

understand their World War II use and context. 

Historic Resource Conditions

The National Park Service would collect and

preserve oral and written home front histories as

identified in the legislation. In this alternative, the

National Park Service also would collect and

preserve objects, artifacts, documents, and images

that are directly related to the interpretive themes

and park sites and that could be used to create and

preserve the historic setting in Richmond,

California. The park museum collection would be

acquired, accessioned and cataloged, preserved,

protected, and made available for use and

interpretation according to NPS standards and

guidelines.

The park museum collection would be protected

and preserved while allowing for visitor access and

interpretation. Making use of various technologies

and reproductions of authentic items would allow

the collection to support and enhance visitor

experience and understanding of the World War II

home front. 

Visitor Services and Facilities 

In alternative B, the National Park Service would

locate and maintain a permanent curatorial facility

in Richmond that consolidates the museum

collections of four national park sites: Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park, Eugene O’Neill National Historic

Site, John Muir National Historic Site, and Port

Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial. 

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
Visitors would have controlled access to these museum

collections and to the digital museum accessed through the park’s

website. 

• National Park Service Headquarters

In alternative B, the National Park Service administrative office

for Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park would be located in one of the historic structures

in Richmond, California. It would provide space for

administration, technical assistance services, stewardship

activities, and civic engagement.

ROLE OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE IN

ALTERNATIVE B

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical

Park depends on its many partners working in collaboration for

the preservation of the historic World War II resources while

providing for visitor access and interpretation. In working with

other cooperating partners to implement the vision of alternative

B over the 15- to 20-year term of this plan, the National Park

Service would pursue the following actions:

 Establish and operate the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center in the Ford Assembly Building that

provides the context to link Richmond sites with each other

and with home front stories and sites throughout the nation.

 Develop interpretive exhibits for the World War II Home

Front Visitor/Education Center.

 Provide visitors with orientation to park resources and

interpretive themes at the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center.

 Develop and coordinate visitor programs at the World War

II Home Front Visitor/Education Center that provide

opportunities for Richmond communities to tell their home

front stories.

 Provide regularly scheduled walking and bus tours that

originate at the World War II Home Front Visitor/Education

Center and at other sites in Richmond.

 Provide self-guiding tour brochures to visitors at Richmond

City Hall and at designated park sites.

 Provide technical assistance and support for interpretive

waysides at sites and structures that represent the home

front story in Richmond.

 Coordinate and encourage individuals and groups to

develop World War II home front interpretive opportunities

such as community and regional events, signs, and

educational programs.

 Develop interpretation standards and provide technical

assistance and training in telling Rosie the Riveter and World

War II home front stories.

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Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
82

 Provide technical assistance, in collaboration

with cooperating partners, in the planning and

development of a vision for the preservation of

a World War II worker community historic area.

 Work with other cooperating partners to

interpret the known home front resources –

Maritime Child Development Center, Nystrom

Village, Atchison Village, Fire Station 67A, and

Richmond Field Hospital – as part of a home

front community.

 In addition to maintaining a website, develop

and manage interpretive and educational

programs for electronic access from across the

nation using new technologies that include, but

are not limited to, web-based access to the

park’s themes and stories, connections to other

World War II home front sites from park sites in

Richmond, California, and a digital Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front museum.

 Provide studies, reports, and

professional/technical assistance that contribute

to the preservation of the character-defining

features of the World War II-era home front

sites and structures named in the park’s

legislation and the landscapes in the vicinity of

these sites and structures; agreements could be

established between owners/cooperating

partners for the National Park Service to assist

with providing access for visitors and creating

exhibits that interpret the sites’ connections to

the home front themes.

 Collect and preserve World War II home front

oral and written histories and their associated

artifacts and archives; as feasible, allow visitors

to connect to stories and artifacts at park sites

that support interpretive themes.

 Collect and preserve objects, artifacts,

documents, and images that directly relate to

the park’s interpretive themes and that can be

used in exhibits at the park’s sites to interpret

the national home front story.

 Locate and maintain a curatorial and research

facility in a World War II-era historic structure

in Richmond, California, that allows for the

consolidation of the museum collections of

four East Bay national park sites: Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park, Eugene O’Neill National

Historic Site, John Muir National Historic Site,

and Port Chicago Naval Magazine National

Memorial.

 Locate the administrative office for Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park at a World War II-era historic

structure in Richmond, California. 

• ESTIMATED COSTS: ALTERNATIVE B

The estimated costs in table 5 reflect only those

costs associated with the actions of the National

Park Service in implementing the vision for

alternative B. These costs do not include costs that

might be incurred by cooperating partners. Costs

associated with the actions of cooperating partners

are not easily predictable, given the various goals,

multiple non-park related uses, and levels of effort

and commitment. 

The cost figures shown here and throughout the

plan are intended only to provide an estimate of the

relative costs of alternatives. NPS and industry cost

estimating guidelines were used to develop the costs

to the extent possible, but the estimates should not

be used for budgeting purposes. Most of the

specifics about development and management

actions will be decided in subsequent, more detailed

planning and design exercises, and will consider the

design of facilities, identification of detailed

resource protection needs, and changing visitor

expectations. Actual costs to the National Park

Service will vary depending on if and when the

actions are implemented, and on contributions by

partners and volunteers.

The implementation of the approved plan, no matter

which alternative, will depend on future NPS

funding levels and Servicewide priorities, and on

partnership funds, time, and effort. The approval of

a general management plan does not guarantee that

funding and staffing needed to implement the plan

will be forthcoming. Full implementation of the plan

could be many years in the future.

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
83

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
84

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES

NPS Annual Operating Costs(1) $2,500,000

NPS Curatorial Facility Lease $50,000

NPS Staffing Levels(2) (Full Time Equivalent) 26.25

(This represents an increase in staffing for a larger role in providing park interpretation and

technical support in historic preservation.)

Total Estimated Annual Costs $2,550,000

NPS Facility Construction 

– Visitor Center $7,000,000

– wayfinding, interpretive exhibits/signs at individual park sites,

interior construction and furnishings of curatorial facility and

administrative office(3) $900,000

Non-Facility Costs 

– acquisition and preservation of museum collections

– web-based World War II home front stories and links(4) $1,100,000

Total Estimated One-Time Costs $9,000,000

There are no NPS deferred maintenance costs since the National Park Service does not

currently own any park assets.

Alternative B: NPS Preferred Alternative

Table 5: Estimated Costs to the National Park Service (NPS) – Alternative B

One Time Costs

Annual Operations

(1) Annual operating costs are the total annual costs for NPS maintenance and operations associated with

each alternative, including: maintenance, utilities, supplies, staff salaries and benefits, leasing, and other

materials. 

(2) Total number of full time equivalent (FTE) employees required to maintain the NPS role and operations,

provide technical assistance with resource protection and in telling park stories, and for other support.

Alternative B requires staffing at many of the individual park sites to provide interpretive services and visitor access as well as staffing the visitor/education center. This alternative also requires planning and technical assistance staff to support the owners of historic properties with historic preservation and interpretation. This figure includes a temporary team of potenitally 5 people, who would work to collect, interview,

process, and make available oral histories relating to the WWII Home Front. The museum collection staff

would support the needs of the four East Bay national park sites.

(3) One-time facility costs include those for the design, construction, rehabilitation, administrative facilities,

interpretive exhibits/signs, visitor and educational facilities, maintenance facilities, museum collection

facilities, and other visitor support facilities.

(4) One-time non-facility costs include actions for the preservation of cultural or natural resources not related

to facilities, the development of visitor use tools not related to facilities, and other park management

activities. Examples include: developing interpretive programs using new technologies and, collecting and

preserving artifacts that can be used in park exhibits. 
VISION FOR ALTERNATIVE C

In alternative C, the World War II Home Front Visitor/Education

Center and the SS Red Oak Victory, both located at and adjacent

85

Alternative C: The 

Home Front 

Visitor/Education

Center Tells The 

National Home 

Front Story

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical

Park is a partnership park that includes many public and

private entities working collaboratively to preserve historic

World War II resources and tell America's home front stories. 

The collaborative nature of Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical Park requires a commitment to

building and sustaining relationships with individuals,

neighbors, cooperating partners, and other communities of

interest.

This section describes the vision of how the park could evolve

if alternative C were implemented. Implementation of this

vision would take the commitment and coordination of many

cooperating partners. These partners include citizens,

communities, and private, governmental, and nonprofit

entities that—through agreements and shared common

goals—work together to achieve the mission of the national

historical park. The National Park Service would continue to

facilitate and develop these partnerships to provide for mutual

benefit among participants and to achieve the park's legislated

mandates.

The National Park Service would provide opportunities for

individuals and groups to tell their own stories at park sites

and would encourage the telling of home front stories

throughout the greater Richmond community and across

America. The goal of these activities is to nurture stewardship

of the multilayered World War II home front experience and

legacy and to facilitate conversations that lead to a shared

understanding of the full meaning and contemporary

relevance of the World War II home front.
86

to the Ford Assembly Building, would serve as the

primary focus of the park. The other park sites

would serve as a community backdrop; their historic

appearance would be preserved while they provide

for contemporary uses. The visitor/education center

would present a diversity of stories from different

communities across America and provide in-depth

educational and research opportunities to advance

the understanding of this chapter of American

history. Using self-guiding brochures and other

opportunities, visitors could view Richmond’s

World War II home front sites and structures.

VISITOR EXPERIENCE IN ALTERNATIVE C

In alternative C, the visitor would be directed to the

Richmond waterfront where the World War II

Home Front Visitor/Education Center, the SS Red

Oak Victory, and the views of Shipyard No. 3 would

provide a historic setting in which to learn about the

American World War II home front stories. At the

visitor/education center, visitors could explore indepth World War II home front stories and events

from communities all across America. Collaboration

between the National Park Service and other

partners, including educational and cultural

institutions, would provide visitors with an array of

interpretive exhibits, demonstrations of home-front

life, models of wartime production, and

opportunities for formal educational and seminar

programs. 

In alternative C, the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center also would provide visitors

with access to primary source material about the

American World War II home front, both at the

center itself and through coordinated links with

resources at institutions throughout the country.

Also in this alternative, a coordinated national

research program would be developed to expand

knowledge and understanding of the American

World War II home front.

With the SS Red Oak Victory located at Sheridan

Point Observation Park adjacent to the

visitor/education center at the Ford Assembly

Building, park visitors would be able to explore a

wartime ship that was produced in one of Kaiser’s

shipyards. The views from the SS Red Oak Victory

and the World War II Home Front Visitor/Education

Center would provide visitors with a sense of the

size and scope of the war effort. 

As with alternative A, visitors would have the

opportunity for self-guiding tours to view the

exteriors of preserved World War II structures and

sites throughout Richmond. 

Visitation to the park is estimated to be moderate in

this alternative because while a diversity of

educational and interpretive programs would be

available, they would be located at Sheridan

Observation Point and the Ford Assembly Building.

Other sites and structures would have limited access

and no on-site programs (see chapter 4, Table 11:

Visitation Estimates).

HISTORIC RESOURCE CONDITIONS IN

ALTERNATIVE C

In alternative C, the façades of World War II

structures would reflect their historic characteristics

while the interiors provide for contemporary uses.

The primary focus of this alternative would be the

World War II Visitor/Education Center. The

emphasis would be in the collection, preservation,

and public access to World War II home front

artifacts and other primary source materials that

would provide visitors and scholars with in-depth

knowledge about the American World War II home

front. 

VISIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL PARK SITES

IN ALTERNATIVE C

In addition to the management actions described

under the heading “Elements Common to All

Alternatives” (described near the beginning of this

chapter), the following narrative describes the future

vision for each individual park site and associated

resources in alternative C. Because Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park is a partnership park,

implementation of these visions will take the

commitment and coordination of many park

partners. The map on page 93, entitled Alternative C,

displays the park areas as described below. 

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
• Ford Assembly Building / SS Red Oak Victory

In alternative C, two park areas have been identified for different

portions of the Ford Assembly Building. The characteristics of

these desired future park areas are described in table 2. The

World War II Home Front Visitor/Education Center and the

walkway along the building’s waterfront would be in the Exhibit

Education Area, where visitors would have many and varied

opportunities to explore the home front stories of Richmond and

the nation. The remainder of the site and structures would be in

the Historic Backdrop Area, where the exteriors would help

visitors understand the size and scale of Richmond’s wartime

industries. 

The SS Red Oak Victory would be in the Historic Engagement

Area, where visitors can become engaged in the activities

associated with shipbuilding and the role of Victory and Liberty

ships during World War II.

Visitor Experience 

The World War II Home Front Visitor/Education Center, located

in the waterfront portion of the Ford Assembly Building referred

to as the craneway, would be the primary destination for visitors

to Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park. Visitors to the center would be surrounded by

historic resources of Richmond’s World War II home front,

including the historic Ford Assembly Building, SS Red Oak

Victory moored at the adjacent Sheridan Observation Point Park,

views across the Santa Fe Channel to the historic structures of

Shipyard No. 3, and views of Richmond’s inner harbor. The

concentration of these historic structures and views would

provide a setting that supports the in-depth exploration of the

stories and events of America’s home front at the

visitor/education center.

The World War II Home Front Visitor/Education Center would

provide visitors with the opportunity to 1) learn about the park

purpose and themes, and to explore, in-depth, the national World

War II home front stories and events from communities all across

America; 2) view exhibits, artifacts, and documented histories of

the American home front: 3) through demonstrations and models

learn about wartime production; 4) participate in formal

educational and seminar programs sponsored by partners

representing other cultural and educational institutions from

throughout the country; 5) research primary source materials

about the American home front; 6) participate in research

programs that further expand the knowledge and understanding

of the American World War II home front.

Using evolving Internet and digital technology, visitors to the

visitor/education center and to its web-based extension could

learn about World War II home front sites throughout the United

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Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
88

States and could explore uplinks of selected

interpretive and educational programs originating at

the park. 

Historic Resource Conditions 

In alternative C, the exterior of the Ford Assembly

Building would be preserved to retain its historic

qualities as defined by the Federal Preservation Tax

Incentive Program. The interior of the Ford

Assembly Building would be adaptively used for

contemporary purposes. A portion of the interior

would be rehabilitated to reflect its World War II use

and to highlight the architectural features of this

structure designed by Albert Kahn.

The SS Red Oak Victory would be moored adjacent

to the visitor/education center. The Richmond

Museum Association would continue to rehabilitate

the ship to its operational condition reflecting many

of its World War II-era attributes and would

continue to provide for visitor access.

The views of the historic structures in Shipyard No.

3 from the SS Red Oak Victory and the

visitor/education center would contribute to the

historic World War II home front setting.

Visitor Services and Facilities

In alternative C, the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center would provide

comprehensive interpretive and educational

opportunities to explore and research American

World War II home front stories. The

visitor/education center would use both interior and

exterior spaces of the Ford Assembly Building,

including coordinated access to the SS Red Oak

Victory.

In alternative C, the Rosie the Riveter Trust would

provide visitor support and retail services within the

visitor/education center. Some commercial

opportunities within the Ford Assembly Building,

such as food vendors and retail services, could

accommodate visitors as well.

Cooperating partners would develop the permanent

infrastructure to support the SS Red Oak Victory

mooring and operations. Visitor parking would be

provided on-site and along the street.

• Richmond Shipyard No. 3

In alternative C, Shipyard No. 3 would be in the

Industrial/Port Landscape Area. While visitors

would have access to this area only during scheduled

guided tours, observing contemporary port activities

from a safe distance would provide them with a

sense of size and scale represented by the open

industrial landscape. The characteristics of the

Industrial/Port Landscape Area are described in

table 2.

Visitor Experience

In this alternative, the World War II sites and

structures of the Richmond Shipyard No. 3 would

provide the historic backdrop for interpreting the

Kaiser shipyard and home front stories. Periodic

guided tours of the shipyard would be offered but

visitors also could view and learn about the former

Kaiser shipyard from the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center at the Ford Assembly

Building and from designated viewing areas located

outside Richmond Shipyard No. 3 and along the Bay

Trail. 

Historic Resource Conditions

Richmond Shipyard No. 3 is a National Register

Historic District that contains six World War II

historic buildings (sheet metal shop, general

warehouse, machine shop, forge shop, first aid

station, and cafeteria), whirley crane, and five

graving basins/dry docks.

The preservation of the façades of the historic

shipyard buildings would provide visitors with

distant views of the historic district and help them to

understand the scale and impact that Kaiser and his

shipyards had during Richmond’s World War II

home front effort. The historic district would

include the World War II sites and structures that

illustrate the shipyard’s historic operations; these

would be interpreted off-site. While the historic

structures and their features would continue to

retain their World War II-era appearance, the

interior spaces of the structures would be used for

contemporary port uses and would be closed to

park visitors. 

Visitor Services and Facilities

In alternative C, visitor facilities would include

viewing areas with parking and interpretive signs; all

visitor facilities would be located outside the

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
boundaries of Richmond Shipyard No. 3. 

• Child Development Centers

In alternative C, the Maritime and Ruth C. Powers child

development centers would be in the Historic Backdrop Area. In

this alternative, visitors would not have access to the interiors of

these buildings, but the structures would provide visitors with a

visual context for exploring the issues of family life during World

War II. 

Visitor Experience

In alternative C, both the Maritime and the Ruth C. Powers child

development centers would share the same visitor experience

goals. Park visitors with self-guiding brochures or those

participating in guided tours would visit the exterior of both

child development centers. Through interpretive signs,

brochures, and guide books, visitors would learn about the

aspects of the World War II home front that are represented by

the two child development centers, including the social aspects of

the American home front and the necessity of providing 24-hour

child care for families of war workers. 

Historic Resource Conditions

Cooperating partners would rehabilitate the Maritime and Ruth

C. Powers child development centers in order to provide for

contemporary uses. The façades and landscaping of both centers

would be maintained in a condition that reflects their World War

II heritage. 

Visitor Services and Facilities 

In alternative C, park visitors would have access to interpretive

signs at both child development centers where they would learn

about the World War II home front stories and events related to

the child development centers. 

Interpretive signs would be incorporated so as not to disrupt the

contemporary uses occurring at the child development centers.

Street parking and local bus service would be available for

visitors. 

• World War II Worker Housing 

In alternative C, the identified World War II worker housing,

including Atchison Village, would be in the Historic Backdrop

Area, allowing for contemporary use, yet providing visitors with a

visual setting of 1940s Richmond.

Visitor Experience 

Park visitors with self-guiding brochures or those participating in

guided tours would visit examples of war worker housing to learn

about major social impacts resulting from the boom and bust

story of wartime Richmond. 

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Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
90

Historic Resource Conditions

The surviving World War II-era worker housing

would continue to be maintained by private owners,

homeowner associations, cooperatives, and the

Richmond Housing Authority. The National Park

Service would provide limited technical assistance in

historic preservation to owners of World War II-era

housing in retaining the1940s-era appearance of

these houses. 

Visitor Services and Facilities

Historical markers could be located at selected sites,

as owners allow. 

• Kaiser Permanente Field Hospital

The historic Kaiser Permanente Field Hospital is

privately owned and is being adapted for

contemporary use unrelated to the park. In

alternative C, the Kaiser Permanente Field Hospital

would be in the Historic Backdrop Area, providing a

visual 1940s-era backdrop for telling the story of war

worker health care.

Visitor Experience

In alternative C, park visitors with self-guiding

brochures or those participating in guided tours

would visit the exterior of the Kaiser Permanente

Field Hospital. Through interpretive signs,

brochures, and guide books, visitors would learn

about the three-tier Kaiser health system, why

Kaiser decided to provide health care to shipyard

workers, and how that program evolved to

contemporary health care programs.

Historic Resource Conditions

The façade and landscape would be rehabilitated to

reflect their World War II-era heritage. 

Visitor Services and Facilities 

In alternative C, visitor facilities would include

interpretive signs and street parking.

• National Park Service Museum

Collections 

Visitor Experience

In alternative C, visitors would have the opportunity

to learn about Rosie the Riveter and the American

World War II home front through oral and written

histories collected directly from the individuals who

experienced the war years and through associated

artifacts. In addition, the park museum collection

would include primary source material of the

American World War II home front that contributes

to the programming and research available through

the visitor/education center. Visitor could access the

park collection through the digital museum and

other educational programming available through

the park’s website.

Historic Resource Conditions

The National Park Service would collect and

preserve oral and written home front histories as

identified in the legislation. In this alternative, the

National Park Service also would collect and link to

primary source material of the American World War

II home front. The park museum collections would

be acquired, accessioned and cataloged, preserved,

protected, and made available for use and

interpretation according to NPS standards and

guidelines.

The park museum collection would be protected

and preserved while allowing for visitor access and

interpretation. By using various technologies the

collection would support and enhance visitor

understanding of the American World War II home

front.

Visitor Services and Facilities 

The National Park Service could locate and

maintain a permanent curatorial facility at the World

War II Home Front Visitor/Education Center

through a lease arrangement with the owner. Visitors

could have access to this collection and, through

Internet links, to collections at other cultural and

educational institutions throughout the United

States.

This facility could support the collections of four

national park sites: Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical Park, Eugene

O’Neill National Historic Site, John Muir National

Historic Site, and Port Chicago Naval Magazine

National Memorial.

• National Park Service Headquarters

The National Park Service administrative office for

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front

National Historical Park could be located in the

World War II Home Front Visitor/Education Center

through a lease arrangement with the owner. It

could provide space for NPS administration,

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
technical assistance services, stewardship activities, and civic

engagement. 

ROLE OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE IN

ALTERNATIVE C

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical

Park is a partnership park that includes many public and private

entities working in collaboration for the preservation of the

historic World War II resources while providing for visitor access

and interpretation. In working with other cooperating partners to

implement the vision of alternative C over the 15- to 20-year term

of this plan, the National Park Service would pursue the

following actions:

 Establish and operate the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center in the Ford Assembly Building that

would be the primary destination for visitors to Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park.

 Develop interpretive exhibits for the World War II Home

Front Visitor/Education Center.

 Provide visitors with orientation to park resources and

interpretive themes, as well as opportunities for in-depth

exploration of Rosie the Riveter and the American World

War II home front at the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center.

 Develop and coordinate visitor programs at the World War

II Home Front Visitor/Education Center that provide

opportunities for Richmond communities to tell their home

front stories.

 Develop and coordinate visitor programs at the World War

II Home Front Visitor/Education Center that link to cultural

and educational institutions throughout the nation that tell

other World War II home front stories. 

 Provide visitor programming at the World War II Home

Front Visitor/Education Center that includes interpretive,

educational, and research opportunities to expand the

knowledge and understanding of the American World War II

home front.

 Provide self-guiding tour brochures to visitors at Richmond

City Hall and at designated park sites.

 Provide technical assistance and support for interpretive

waysides at sites and structures that represent the home

front story in Richmond.

 Coordinate and encourage individuals and groups to

develop World War II home front interpretive opportunities

such as community and regional events, signs, and

educational programs.

 Develop interpretation standards and provide technical

assistance and training in telling Rosie the Riveter and World

War II home front stories.

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Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
92

 In addition to maintaining a website, develop

and manage interpretive and educational

programs for electronic access from across the

nation using new technologies that include, but

are not limited to, web-based access to the

park’s themes and stories, connections to other

World War II home front sites, and a digital

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front

museum.

 Assist with studies and reports, and, when

possible, provide professional/technical

expertise that supports preservation of the

character-defining features of World War II

home front sites and structures named in the

park’s legislation.

 Collect and preserve World War II home front

oral and written histories and their associated

artifacts and archives.

 Collect and preserve objects, artifacts,

documents, and images that directly relate to

the American World War II home front and can

be used to support interpretation at the World

War II Home Front Visitor/Education Center.

 Locate and maintain curatorial and research

facilities for the four East Bay national park sites

at the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center.

 Locate the administrative office for Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park at the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center in Richmond,

California through a lease arrangement with the

owner.

ESTIMATED COSTS: ALTERNATIVE C

The estimated costs in table 6 reflect only those

costs associated with the actions of the National

Park Service in implementing the vision for

alternative C. These costs do not include costs that

might be incurred by cooperating partners. Costs

associated with the actions of cooperating partners

are not easily predictable, given the various goals,

multiple nonpark-related uses, and levels of effort

and commitment. 

The cost figures shown here and throughout the

plan are intended only to provide an estimate of the

relative costs of alternatives. NPS and industry cost

estimating guidelines were used to develop the costs

to the extent possible, but the estimates should not

be used for budgeting purposes. Most of the

specifics about development and management

actions will be decided in subsequent, more detailed

planning and design exercises, and will consider the

design of facilities, identification of detailed

resource protection needs, and changing visitor

expectations. Actual costs to the National Park

Service will vary depending on if and when the

actions are implemented, and on contributions by

partners and volunteers.

The implementation of NPS role, no matter which

alternative, will depend on future NPS funding

levels and Servicewide priorities, and on partnership

funds, time, and effort. The approval of a general

management plan does not guarantee that funding

and staffing needed to implement the plan will be

forthcoming. Full implementation of the plan could

be many years in the future.

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
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Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
94

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES

NPS Annual Operating Costs(1) $2,300,000

NPS Curatorial Facility Lease $60,000

NPS Staffing Levels(2) (Full Time Equivalent) 21.5

(This represents an increase in staffing for a larger role in visitor center operations, 

educaction and curation.)

Total Estimated Annual Costs $2,360,000

NPS Facility Construction 

– Visitor/Education Center $9,200,000

– wayfinding, interior construction and furnishings of curatorial 

facility and administrative office(3) $200,000

Non-Facility Costs 

– acquisition and preservation of museum collections

– web-based World War II home front stories and links(4) $1,200,000

Total Estimated One-Time Costs $10,600,000

There are no NPS deferred maintenance costs since the National Park Service does not

currently own any park assets.

Alternative C

Table 6: Estimated Costs to the National Park Service (NPS) – Alternative C

One Time Costs

Annual Operations

(1) Annual operating costs are the total annual costs for NPS maintenance and operations associated with

each alternative, including: maintenance, utilities, supplies, staff salaries and benefits, leasing, and other

materials. 

(2) Total number of full time equivalent (FTE) employees required to maintain the NPS role and operations,

provide technical assistance with resource protection and in telling park stories, and for other support. In

Alternative C the visitor/education center and SS Red Oak Victory would serve as the primary focus of the

park. This alternative requires staffing at the visitor/education center while only a few field interpreters

would be required. Planning and technical assistance to owners of historic properties is required by the

level of effort is reduced from alternative B. This figure includes a temporary team of potentially 5 people,

who would work to collect, interview, process, and make available oral histories relating to the WWII

Home Front. The museum collection staff would support the needs of the four East Bay national park

sites.

(3) One-time facility costs include those for the design, construction, rehabilitations, administrative facilities,

interpretive exhibits/signs, visitor and educational facilities, maintenance facilities, museum collection

facilities, and other visitor support facilities.

(4) One-time non-facility costs include actions for the preservation of cultural or natural resources not

related to facilities, the development of visitor use tools not related to facilities, and other park

management activities. Examples include: developing interpretive programs using new technologies and,

collecting and preserving artifacts that can be used in park exhibits. 
Early in the development of the alternatives, an alternative D was

developed. The concept for alternative D was to expose the

visitor to a Richmond World War II home front setting that is

preserved through adaptive use of the historic structures and

settings. This would be accomplished by providing a high density

of contemporary activities relating to commerce, culture, arts,

education, and community services.

To allow the public to explore the four proposed alternatives for

the general management plan, the planning team prepared and

distributed a newsletter that described each alternative. Then the

National Park Service hosted five public workshops in the San

Francisco Bay Area that provided the public with an opportunity

to discuss and give feedback to the planning team regarding their

likes and dislikes of each alternative. 

Feedback from the public involvement activities affirmed that

alternatives A, B, and C provided an appropriate range of future

park visions. As alternative D was explored, it became evident

that it entailed actions that were outside of the park purpose and

beyond the ability of the National Park Service to enact.

Therefore it was dismissed from further consideration in the

plan. 

The environmentally preferable alternative is defined by the

Council on Environmental Quality as “the alternative that will

promote the nation’s environmental policy as expressed in the

National Environmental Policy Act [Section 101 (b)].” Section

101 (b) defines the environmentally preferable alternative

through the application of the six criteria listed below. Generally,

the environmentally preferable alternative is the alternative that

causes the least damage to the biological and physical

environment and that best protects, preserves, and enhances

historic, cultural, and natural resources. Each criterion is

presented below, followed by a discussion of how well the

proposed alternatives meet that crierion.

95

Alternatives and

Actions Considered 

but Dismissed

Environmentally 

Preferable 

Alternative
96

The National Park Service does not own the park

sites and historic structures of Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front National

Historical Park and therefore has limited ability to

affect the environment. The National Park Service

role is to support interpretation and education,

provide technical assistance, and collaborate with

other public and private partners in preserving

historic resources and providing for visitor services.

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front

National Historical Park is a park consisting

primarily of cultural resources. The alternatives in

the general management plan describe actions that

influence the protection and preservation of the

historic and cultural resources. The park has few

natural resources since it consists of historic

resources within the built environment of the City of

Richmond, California.

1. Fulfilling the responsibilities of each

generation as trustees of the environment for

succeeding generations. Under alternative A,

the no-action alternative, the cooperating

partners, including the National Park Service,

would continue to provide minimal support

services for visitors, but the level of services

would be less than under either action

alternative. Alternatives B and C would enhance

the National Park Service’s ability to meet this

criterion by allowing greater levels of service,

increased levels of technical support for

rehabilitation of historic structures, improved

curatorial capability, and expanded potential for

new visitor experiences. While both action

alternatives would provide these additional

services, alternative B would provide a greater

level of on-site visitor access and service.

2. Ensuring for all generations safe, healthful,

productive, and aesthetically and culturally

pleasing surroundings. Under alternative A,

the no-action alternative, the national historical

park would strive to provide safe, healthful,

productive, and aesthetically pleasing

surroundings for its visitors in areas that are the

focus of the national historical park.

Alternatives B and C would take steps to

improve the safety and aesthetics in more areas

of the park as new sites and opportunities are

developed. Alternative B has the potential to

provide greater opportunities for aesthetically

pleasing surroundings because of a greater

emphasis in retaining the historic appearance of

more park sites and structures than provided

for in alternatives A and C.

3. Attaining the widest range of beneficial uses

of the environment without degradation, risk

of health or safety, or other undesirable and

unintended consequences. While the noaction alternative would continue to provide

minimal uses, alternatives B and C would

improve the park’s ability to meet this criterion.

By providing support for more rehabilitation

efforts, allowing for greater use of historic

resources, and providing expanded

opportunities for visitor experiences,

alternatives B and C would provide more

choices and a more accessible program. Of the

two action alternatives, alternative B has the

potential to meet the criterion throughout a

greater area of the park than alternative C. 

4. Preserving important historic, cultural, and

natural aspects of our national heritage and

maintaining, wherever possible, an

environment that supports diversity and

variety of individual choice. Under the noaction alternative, alternative A, the National

Park Service would continue to maintain a

support role to the other cooperating partners

in the preservation of the park resources. Both

action alternatives would allow for expansion of

the National Park Service role in providing

technical assistance to cooperating partners for

preservation of important historic and cultural

resources and in interpretation of park

resources. Alternative B allows for a greater

National Park Service role by providing

additional support personnel for historic

preservation.

5. Achieving a balance between population and

resource use that will permit high standards

of living and a wide sharing of life’s

amenities. The cooperating partners strive to

achieve a balance between population and

resource use at Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical Park. Under

the no-action alternative, the park would

continue to meet this criterion. Both action

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES
alternatives would meet this criterion by improving visitor

services with new interpretation, greater potential for

rehabilitation, and overall improved visitor services. Because

of the greater level of preservation and access to a majority

of park areas, alternative B meets this criterion better than

alternative A or C.

6.Enhancing the quality of renewable resources and

approaching the maximum attainable recycling of

depletable resources. Under the no-action alternative, there

is limited opportunity to enhance sustainability of the park

sites. Under the action alternatives, there would be greater

opportunity to provide the technical expertise in historic

building rehabilitation that could effect greater conservation

of resources. Alternative B would have a slightly greater

potential than alternative C for enhancing resource

conservation in the park due to the greater level of

preservation and anticipated community involvement.

Based on the analysis provided in the environmental assessment

and the discussion above, alternative B is the environmentally

preferable alternative. Although all of the alternatives meet the

above criteria to some degree, alternative B surpasses the other

alternatives in fulfilling expectations outlined by the Council on

Environmental Quality. Although alternatives A and C meet all of

the criteria to some level, they do not fulfill them to the level that

alternative B does.

97

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
98

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES

Summary Tables

The following three tables summarize the alternatives. Table 7 presents the alternatives as they apply to

various park sites, table 8 presents the role of the National Park Service in each of the alternatives, and table

9 summarizes the key impacts of implementing the alternatives. For a complete understanding of each

alternative, see the discussion of the individual alternatives elsewhere in this chapter. 

ALTERNATIVE B

Explore Richmond to 

Understand the National 

Home Front Story

(Preferred Alternative)

ALTERNATIVE A

No Action

ALTERNATIVE C

The Home Front

Visitor/Education Center Tells

the National Home Front Story

Vision

Ford

Assembly

Building

Using self-guiding tools or

participating in guided tours,

visitors would tour

Richmond to see World War

II historic sites and

structures.

Visitors would learn about

the home front story

through brochures and

interpretive signs.

The exterior facade of the

Ford Assembly Building

maintains its 1940s

appearance while the

interior is adapted to

accommodate contemporary

uses.

Visitors would have

opportunities to explore

Richmond's World War II-era

historic sites and structures

to experience the scale and

diversity of the American

home front story. Visitors are

able to view the exteriors

and access some

rehabilitated interiors where

artifacts, exhibits, and

programs connect visitors

with park themes. 

The World War II Home

Front Visitor/Education

Center, located at the Ford

Assembly Building, interprets

the national home front

effort and orients visitors to

Richmond's sites and stories.

Visitors would be introduced

to park interpretive themes

and oriented to Richmond's

historic sites, structures and

stories at the World War II

Home Front

Visitor/Education Center.

Same as Alternative A.

Visitors would have

opportunities to explore the

World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center to

learn about the impacts and

legacy of the American

World War II home front. 

The World War II Home

Front Visitor/Education

Center presents a diversity

of stories from different

communities across America

and provides in-depth 

educational and research

opportunities to advance the

understanding of this 

chapter of American history. 

Using self-guiding brochures

and other opportunities,

visitors may view

Richmond's World War II

home front sites and

structures.

At the World War II Home

Front Visitor/Education

Center, visitors could explore

a diversity of World War II

home front stories from

different communities across

America and are provided

with in-depth educational

and research opportunities

to advance the

understanding of this

chapter of American history. 

Same as Alternative A.

Table 7: Summary of the Alternatives by Park Site
99

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

ALTERNATIVE B

Explore Richmond to 

Understand the National 

Home Front Story

(Preferred Alternative)

ALTERNATIVE A

No Action

ALTERNATIVE C

The Home Front

Visitor/Education Center Tells

the National Home Front Story

Shipyard

No. 3

SS Red Oak

Victory

Child

Development

Center

World War II

Worker

Housing

Visitors would have access

to explore the SS Red Oak

Victory. The majority of the

historic district of Richmond

Shipyard No. 3 would be

closed to the public and

used for industrial port

purposes.

The exteriors of the historic

structures would retain their

World War II-era

appearance.

Visitors would be provided

controlled access to Berth

6A in Shipyard No. 3 in

order to tour the SS Red

Oak Victory.

Visitors on guided tours or

with self-guiding brochures

would visit the exteriors of

the centers.

With a self-guiding brochure

or on a scheduled guided

tour, visitors would see

remaining examples of the

exterior of World War II

worker housing sites.

Visitors would explore the

interior and exteriors of a

number of the World War II

sites and structures in the

historic district of Shipyard

No. 3. A larger portion of

the historic district would be

open for park visitors under

controlled conditions. The

balance of Shipyard No. 3

would be used for industrial

port purposes.

The exteriors of the historic

structures would retain their

World War II-era

appearance. Selected

interiors would be

rehabilitated to reflect their

World War II-era uses.

Visitors would have greater

access to tour the SS Red

Oak Victory at Berth 6A in

addition to exploring other

World War II-era sites and

structures in the historic 

district of Shipyard No. 3.

In addition to alternative A,

visitors would explore a 

portion of the Maritime

Child Development Center

that reflects its 1940s use

and appearance.

The Maritime CDC also

would serve as an 

orientation center for the

exploration of the larger war

worker community that 

surrounds it.

Guided and self-guiding

tours and interpretive signs

would enable visitors to

explore sites and structures

near the Maritime Child

Development Center, 

allowing them to learn what

life might have been like for

a wartime worker in

Richmond. 

Visitors would have no

access, other than through

periodically scheduled guided tours, to the historic district of Shipyard No. 3.

Instead, the shipyard would

serve as a backdrop to be

viewed from the Ford

Assembly Building area and

the San Francisco Bay Trail.

Same as alternative A.

Visitors would have access

to tour the SS Red Oak

Victory at Sheridan

Observation Point Park,

adjacent to the World War II

Home Front

Visitor/Education Center,

located at the Ford

Assembly Building.

Same as Alternative A.

Same as Alternative A.
100

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES

ALTERNATIVE B

Explore Richmond to 

Understand the National 

Home Front Story

(Preferred Alternative)

ALTERNATIVE A

No Action

ALTERNATIVE C

The Home Front

Visitor/Education Center Tells

the National Home Front Story

KaiserPermanente

Field

Hospital

National Park

Service

Museum

Collection

National Park

Service

Headquarters

Visitors with a self-guiding

brochure or on a guided

tour would be able to see

the exterior of the former

Kaiser Permanente Field

Hospital. 

Visitors would have access

to a portion of the park's

collection through

conducted tours and the

park's website. 

The headquarters would be

co-located with the City of

Richmond offices. The

offices would be open

during normal business

hours and visitor access

would be controlled.

In addition to alternative A,

visitors would explore a

selected small portion of the

Kaiser Permanente Field

Hospital that reflects its

1940s use and appearance.

In addition to alternative A,

many of the artifacts (and

reproductions) in the

collection would be

incorporated into the

historic scenes of selected

park sites to help visitors

understand their World War

II use.

The headquarters would be

located in one of the historic

structures in Richmond.

Same as alternative A.

Visitors would have access

to oral and written histories

and associated artifacts. The

park museum collection

would include primary

source material of the

American World War II

home front. Visitor could

access the park collection

through the digital museum

and other educational

programming available

through the park's website.

The headquarters would be

located in World War II

Home Front

Visitor/Education Center.

ESTIMATED COSTS TO THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (NPS)

NPS Annual

Operations

Total Estimated

Annual Costs

NPS Staffing

Levels

Full time Equivalent

NPS One Time

Facility Costs

NPS One Time

Non-facilities

Costs

Deferred

Maintenance

ALTERNATIVE B

(see page 85 for details)

ALTERNATIVE A

(see page 74 for details)

ALTERNATIVE C

(see page 95 for details)

$700,000

6.5

$200,000

$0

$2,550,000

26.25

$7,900,000

$1,100,000

$2,360,000

21.5

$9,400,000

$1,200,000

There are no NPS deferred maintenance costs since the National Park Service does not 

currently own any park assets.
101

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

ALTERNATIVE B

Explore Richmond to 

Understand the National 

Home Front Story

(Preferred Alternative)

ALTERNATIVE A

No Action

ALTERNATIVE C

The Home Front Visitor/Education

Center Tells the National Home Front

Story

Provide self-guiding tour brochures

to visitors at Richmond City Hall

and at designated park sites. 

Operate a small self-service visitor

orientation center at Richmond

City Hall.

Provide occasional tours and

programs, by appointment, that

engage limited numbers of visitors

and residents with Richmond's

World War II home front resources.

Same as alternative A.

Establish and operate the

approximately 5,000- to10,000-

square-foot World War II Home

Front Visitor/ Education Center in

the Ford Assembly Building that

provides the context to link

Richmond sites with each other

and with home front stories and

sites throughout the nation.

Develop interpretive exhibits for

the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center.

Provide visitors with orientation to

park resources and interpretive

themes at the World War II Home

Front Visitor/Education Center.

Develop and coordinate visitor

programs at the World War II

Home Front Visitor/Education

Center that provide opportunities

for Richmond communities to tell

their home front stories. 

Provide regularly scheduled

walking and bus tours that

originate at the World War II

Home Front Visitor/Education

Center and at other sites in

Richmond.

Same as alternative A.

Establish and operate the

approximately 7,000- to12,000-

square-foot World War II Home

Front Visitor/Education Center in

the Ford Assembly Building that is

the primary destination for visitors

to Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical

Park. 

Same as alternative B.

In addition to alternative B,

provide visitors to World War II

Home Front Visitor/Education

Center with opportunities for indepth exploration of Rosie the

Riveter and the American World

War II home front.

Same as alternative B.

In addition to alternative B,

provide visitor programming at the

World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center that

includes interpretive, educational,

and research opportunities to

expand the knowledge and

understanding of the American

World War II home front.

Table 8: Summary of the Role of the National Park Service in the Alternatives
102

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES

ALTERNATIVE B

Explore Richmond to 

Understand the National 

Home Front Story

(Preferred Alternative)

ALTERNATIVE A

No Action

ALTERNATIVE C

The Home Front Visitor/Education

Center Tells the National Home Front

Story

Provide technical assistance and

support for interpretive waysides

at sites and structures that

represent the home front story in

Richmond. 

Coordinate and encourage

individuals and groups to develop

World War II home front

interpretive opportunities such as

community and regional events,

signs, and educational programs.

Develop interpretation standards

and provide technical assistance

and training in telling Rosie the

Riveter and World War II home

front stories.

Maintain a National Park Service

website that can link to and from

other websites that tell national

World War II home front stories.

Assist with studies and reports,

and, when possible, provide

professional/technical expertise

that supports preservation and

interpretation of the exteriors of

World War II-era home front sites

and structures named in the park's

legislation.

Same as alternative A.

Same as alternative A.

Same as alternative A.

In addition to alternative A,

develop and manage interpretive

and educational programs for

electronic access from across the

nation using new technologies

that include, but are not limited

to, web-based access to the park's

themes and stories, connections to

other World War II home front

sites from park sites in Richmond,

California, and a digital Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front

museum.

Provide studies, reports, and

professional/technical expertise

that contribute to the preservation

of the interiors and exteriors of the

World War II-era home front sites

and structures named in the park's

legislation and the landscapes in

the vicinity of these sites and

structures. Agreements could be

established between

owners/cooperating partners for

the National Park Service to assist

with providing access for visitors

and creating exhibits that interpret

the sites' connections to the home

front themes. 

Same as alternative A.

Same as alternative A.

Same as alternative A.

Develop and coordinate visitor

programs at the World War II

Home Front Visitor/Education

Center that link to cultural and

educational institutions throughout

the nation that tell other World

War II home front stories. 

Same as alternative A.
103

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

ALTERNATIVE B

Explore Richmond to 

Understand the National 

Home Front Story

(Preferred Alternative)

ALTERNATIVE A

No Action

ALTERNATIVE C

The Home Front Visitor/Education

Center Tells the National Home Front

Story

Collect and preserve World War II

home front oral and written

histories and their associated

artifacts and archives.

Continue to maintain the park

museum collection at park

headquarters.

Continue to co-locate the

administrative office for Rosie the

Riveter/World War II Home Front

National Historical Park with the

offices of the City of Richmond.

Collect and preserve World War II

home front oral and written

histories and their associated

artifacts and archives. As feasible,

allow visitors to connect to stories

and artifacts at park sites that

support interpretive themes.

Collect and preserve objects,

artifacts, documents, and images

that directly relate to the park's

interpretive themes and that can

be used in exhibits at the park's

sites to interpret the home front

story in Richmond, California.

Locate and maintain a curatorial

and research facility in a World

War II-era historic structure in

Richmond, California, that allows

for the consolidation of the

collections of four East Bay

national park sites in Richmond:

Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical

Park, Eugene O'Neill National

Historic Site, John Muir National

Historic Site, and Port Chicago

Naval Magazine National

Memorial.

Locate the administrative office for

Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical

Park at a World War II-era historic

structure in Richmond, California. 

Same as alternative A.

Collect and preserve objects,

artifacts, documents, and images

that directly relate to the American

World War II home front and can

be used to support interpretation

at the World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center.

Locate and maintain curatorial and

research facilities for the four East

Bay national park sites at the

World War II Home Front

Visitor/Education Center.

Locate the administrative office for

Rosie the Riveter/World War II

Home Front National Historical

Park at the World War II Home

Front Visitor/Education Center in

Richmond, California. 
104

CHAPTER 3: THE ALTERNATIVES

ALTERNATIVE B

Explore Richmond to 

Understand the National 

Home Front Story

(Preferred Alternative)

ALTERNATIVE A

No Action

ALTERNATIVE C

The Home Front

Visitor/Education Center Tells

the National Home Front Story

Archeological

Resources

Historic

Structures

Cultural

Landscape

Museum

Collections

Continuation of current

actions would result in longterm adverse impacts of

minor intensity. The overall

cumulative impacts would

be adverse; however, this

alternative's contribution to

these impacts would be

small.

Continuation of current

actions would result in

adverse, long-term and

moderate to major intensity.

The overall cumulative

impacts would be adverse;

however, this alternative's

contribution to these

impacts would be small.

Continuation of current

actions would result in

adverse, long-term impacts

of minor intensity. The

overall cumulative impacts

would be adverse; however,

this alternative's

contribution to these

impacts would be small.

Overall, actions under

alternative A would result in

adverse, long-term impacts

of minor to moderate

intensity; although the park

would work toward meeting

professional and National

Park Service standards for

managing its collections. The

overall cumulative impacts

would be adverse; however

this alternative would not

contribute adverse impacts

to the cumulative impact.

Actions under alternative B

could result in long-term

adverse impacts of minor to

moderate intensity. The

overall cumulative impacts

would be adverse; however,

this alternative's contribution to these impacts would

be small.

Actions under alternative B

could result in long-term,

minor to moderate, beneficial impacts. The overall

cumulative impacts would

be adverse; however, this

alternative's contribution to

these impacts would be

beneficial.

Actions under alternative B

would result in beneficial,

long-term impacts of minor

to moderate intensity. The

overall cumulative impacts

would be adverse; however,

this alternative's contribution to these impacts would

be beneficial. 

Overall, actions under alternative B would have beneficial long-term and minor to

moderate intensity. The

overall cumulative impacts

would be adverse; however

this alternative would not

contribute adverse impacts

to the cumulative impact.

Continuation of current

actions would result in longterm adverse impacts of

minor intensity. The overall

cumulative impacts would

be adverse; however, this

alternative's contribution to

these impacts would be

small.

Actions under alternative C

could result in adverse, longterm impacts of moderate

intensity. Implementation of

alternative C would be

expected to contribute only

minimally to the adverse,

long-term and minor to

moderate cumulative

impact.

Actions under alternative C

could result in beneficial,

long-term impacts of minor

intensity. The overall

cumulative impacts would

be adverse; however, this

alternative's contribution to

these impacts would be

small.

Overall, actions under

alternative C would have

beneficial, long-term

impacts of moderate

intensity. The overall

cumulative impacts would

be adverse; however this

alternative would not

contribute adverse impacts

to the cumulative impact.

IMPACT

TOPIC

Table 9: Summary of Key Impacts of Implementing the Alternatives
105

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

Visitor Use

and

Experience

Social and

Economic

Environment

Transportation

The continuation of current

actions would result in longterm, minor to moderate

adverse impacts on visitor

use and experience. The

overall cumulative impacts

would be adverse; however,

this alternative's

contribution to these

impacts would be small.

The continuation of current

actions would have

negligible, long-term

impacts on the social and

economic environment.

Cumulative impacts would

be beneficial; however, the

actions of alternative A

would provide a small

contribution to the

beneficial cumulative

impact. 

The continuation of current

actions would result in

negligible, long-term

impacts on transportation.

The overall cumulative

impact would be adverse,

long term, and minor. 

The actions under alternative B would have beneficial,

long-term, moderate

impacts on visitor use and

experience. The overall

cumulative impact would be

beneficial, long term and

moderate; actions in this

alternative would contribute

substantially to the overall

cumulative impact.

The actions under alternative B would have beneficial,

long-term, minor impacts on

the social and economic

environment. The beneficial

impacts of alternative B

would provide a small contribution to the beneficial

cumulative impact. 

Actions under alternative B

would have adverse, longterm, minor impacts on

transportation. The overall

cumulative impact would be

adverse, long term, and

minor to moderate.

Actions under alternative C

would have beneficial, longterm minor impacts on

visitor use and experience.

The overall cumulative

impact would be beneficial;

however, this alternative's

contribution to the

cumulative impact would be

small.

The actions under

alternative C would have

beneficial, long-term, minor

impacts on the social and

economic environment. The

beneficial impacts of

alternative C would provide

a small contribution to the

beneficial cumulative

impact.

Actions under alternative C

would have adverse, longterm, minor impacts on

transportation. The overall

cumulative impact would be

adverse, long term, and

minor.

ALTERNATIVE B

Explore Richmond to 

Understand the National 

Home Front Story

(Preferred Alternative)

ALTERNATIVE A

No Action

ALTERNATIVE C

The Home Front

Visitor/Education Center Tells

the National Home Front Story

IMPACT

TOPIC
.