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Skaggs Island, CA - January 28, 2010
Images from Bob Breed (former CTR2)

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125-foot water tower demolished on Skaggs Island
Thursday, January 28, 2010
San Francisco KGO-7-ABC

SONOMA COUNTY, CA -- The demolition of approximately 150 buildings began
Wednesday on Skaggs Island, which served as an intelligence-gathering site and
communications base for the U.S. Navy for more than half a century.

The 3,310-acre site, located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Sonoma
County, will be transferred from the Navy to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
when demolition is complete and will eventually become part of the San Pablo Bay
National Wildlife Refuge.

The Navy demolished a 12-story, 125-foot steel water tower on property it
occupied from 1941 to 1993.

The two front legs of the tower were pre-cut so when two pieces of heavy
equipment pulled on cables attached to the sides of the tower, it fell forward
and down.

Blasting is prohibited to protect wildlife in the area, Fernandez said.

Among the other structures slated for demolition over the next several months
are a movie theater, bowling alley, power plant and former barracks, said Doug
Cordell, spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, helped secure $8.8 million in state funds
for the demolition, Cordell said.

Public hearings on a comprehensive conservation plan will determine the future
use of the property and what areas will have public access, Cordell said.




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