By Thomas K. Pendergast

The National Park Service (NPS) plans for the renovation of Sea Cliff’s China Beach, including a complete upgrade of the bath house, picnic area, retaining wall protecting the beach, viewing terraces and other amenities, are moving forward.

The $25 million project planned for the site, which sits adjacent to the Sea Cliff neighborhood between Lands End and Baker Beach, will be done in two phases, with the completion of both expected sometime in 2025.

Of that money, $10 million will be contributed by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, with the rest coming from the NPS.

“The Parks Conservancy was able to raise $10 million in philanthropic dollars to support the project cost, largely donations from the local community,” said Claire Mooney, vice president of parks, places and innovations.

Mooney explained that its role as a non-profit partner to the NPS is to help raise dollars and conduct capital campaigns, and this project received a federal grant matching one federal dollar for every private philanthropic dollar raised.

The rest will come from other federal sources.

The first phase will renovate the infrastructure of the beach area, including work by the Public Utilities Commission to upgrade sewer facilities at the site.

The retaining wall that holds up the parking lot above it will also be done with a new technique that enables the wall to be supported in place and updated without tearing it out.

“A big part of this project is to maintain the beach and the experience it provides for future generations and so to that end we are working to rehab the retaining wall and also the access that goes down to the beach,” NPS spokesperson Julian Espinoza said.

“In general, the project focuses on improving existing infrastructure rather than making any new additions or new buildings,” he said.

Because of the steep descent from the street and parking area to the sand, the level of the parking lot will be raised and a visitor plaza installed on that level, with seating and interpretive signs included.

“One area we really focused on is creating an accessible experience is at the street level,” Mooney said. “Because of China Beach’s steep grades we’re not able to provide a fully accessible experience, but we did want visitors with mobility limitations to be able to enjoy the site, to learn more about China Beach and to learn more about its history, so we will have an accessible visitor plaza area at the street level.”

The second phase will include a complete renovation of the bath house and its roof deck, bringing back some of the amenities that were available to visitors when it first opened in the 1950s, including lockers, showers, restrooms and changing rooms, plus new facilities for the NPS Ocean Rescue team life guard room.

Mooney said they undertook a feasibility study in 2017 to consider rehabilitation versus demolition and decided, given it is a historic resource, that they want to go with rehabilitation.

The National Park Service determined that it was a historic resource in consultation with a California State preservation officer.

The picnic area will also get a makeover with new tables and barbeque pits, Mooney elaborated.

As for the palm trees there, their ultimate fate has yet to be determined because of how close they are to the retaining walls.

“We will do our best to retain as many trees as possible throughout construction. If we were to lose any trees, we’ll look to replace them,” she said. “Given how close they are to the retaining walls, we do anticipate that we’ll need to replace a few post construction, but we definitely plan to replace them.”

As for its history, it was officially named the James D. Phelan Memorial Beach State Park after the State of California bought the beach in 1933. Phelan was the 25th mayor of San Francisco from 1897 to 1902. Prior to that, the locals called it either China Beach or China Cove.

According to NPS, Chinese immigrant camps were common around Bay Area beaches, although no evidence specifically points to China Beach as a camp. Possibly the beach was used as a launch site for Chinese fishing vessels.

But the Phelan name attached to this beach was a problem.

At the time, anti-Chinese clubs were established, and political candidates often promoted anti-Asian platforms, including Phelan.

In 1974, the National Park Service took over running the beach and changed the name back to China Beach.

“China Beach had been known by that name for a long time before it became James Phelan Memorial Beach State Park,” Espinoza said. “So when the National Park Service became its owner, it reverted the name to China Beach in honor of its earlier history.”

In 1982 Chinese Americans had a monument erected to commemorate the Chinese fishermen who worked in and around the San Francisco Bay, which still stands today.