As the oldest naval base on the West Coast, Mare Island Naval Shipyard is a National Historic Landmark and a National Register and City of Vallejo historic district. In 1993, Mare Island was listed in the Base Realignment and Closure initiative approved by Congress. The City of Vallejo adopted a Specific Plan for its conversion, addressing its seemingly endless collection of residential, commercial, industrial buildings and shoreline structures including dry docks and gantry cranes. Nationally-recognized developer Lennar was selected to lead conversion of the property to a mixed-use, urban build-out, including retention of most historic buildings and construction of new ones. The Specific Plan set priorities for preservation of historic buildings, with guidelines for vetting demolition of small or repetitive examples. LMI commissioned Knapp Architects to prepare demolition applications for selected buildings under the Specific Plan. These analyses include architectural and contextual descriptions, images, Historic American Buildings Survey-level documentation, and analysis to verify impact based on established Specific Plan criteria. Additionally, we consulted with LMI on the feasibility of rehabilitation of historic buildings envisioning new uses, new construction in the historic district, and repairs and re-occupancy measures following the 2014 Napa earthquake.
