Thursday's Fisherman's Wharf: To Infinity and Beyond

Fisherman's Wharf is one of, if not the most, popular attractions in San Francisco.  But the proverbial elephant in the room, whose presence is still ubiquitous yet denied, still curses tourism five years after the Corona Virus hit.   

The Famous Captain's Wheel Sign at Fisherman's Wharf

The pandemic of 2020 disrupted hospitality and tourism the world over, like nothing I'd ever seen.   From Cape Town, South Africa to Anchorage, Alaska there was not one corner of this planet where hospitality was not devastated.  You couldn't just pack your suitcase and move to another city because every city's hotel and tourism business was decimated.  

Airline and car rental agencies are industries dependent on travel and tourism, yet somehow managed to stay afloat.  However, I can't think of an example of an entire industry shutting down so completely, immediately and worldwide. 

Some segments of hospitality and tourism managed to bounce back, somewhat.  Yet there are still parts of the city with blocks of empty storefronts.  According to SF Travel, San Francisco's Convention and Visitor Bureau, there is still a 33% drop in visitors to Fisherman's Wharf from 2019.  Six well established seafood restaurants at the Wharf have been shuttered since 2020, and the city has not found another retail operator to fill those spaces.

The loss of these restaurants was a real gut-punch to the hospitality community as many of them have been around for a hundred years.  One such restaurant is Alioto's which opened its doors in 1925, and whose family produced one two-term mayor (Joe Alioto) and his daughter Angela, who was once president of the city's Board of Supervisors.

In an effort to boost tourism and reimagine a post-pandemic Fisherman's Wharf, the city and port are embarking on an ambitious plan to alter the design of the Wharf's most popular area.   Called the Inner Lagoon by port officials, the area around the famous captain's wheel sign at Jefferson and Taylor Streets will see a major renovation which will sadly include the demolition of some of these century-old restaurants.  Beginning this year and lasting until the summer of 2026, the Inner Lagoon will have its first major facelift in 60 years.  

Fisherman’s Wharf Forward, is the Port's plan to initiate a multi-phase strategy to bring investment, new energy, and innovation to the Wharf.  This bold, ten-million-dollar plan will unfortunately see the destruction of Alioto's and Fisherman's Grotto restaurants, two of the Wharf's most historic and well-known culinary institutions.  But what will take its place is a new plaza where those restaurants will soon be razed, offering an unfettered view of the fishing boats for the first time in a hundred years.

In addition to that, an overhang will offer visitors a view of Fisherman's Wharf.  The plan also calls for improving pedestrian lighting in areas soon to be opened by the aforementioned demolitions.  Right now you have to navigate your way through a small breezeway between the two restaurants, which are closed anyway, to see the view that will be open to everyone when the renovation plan is completed.

This year-long renovation project will also incorporate infrastructure improvements to mitigate the increasing effects of climate change and rising sea waters, as well as seismic upgrades. 

For more information, you can check out the plan for yourself at https://www.sfport.com/fwforward

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