Temescal Regional Recreation Area: Beach House – Oakland CA

Description

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the elegant stone Beach House at Lake Temescal Park, now known as Temescal Regional Recreation Area, part of the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD).  When the EBRPD was created in 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and WPA were called upon to improve the first parks of the system, making them ready for public use.  Temescal Park opened to the public in 1936.

The Beach House includes rest rooms and changing rooms on the ground floor and a large hall and offices above, plus a flagstone terrace and terraced garden behind. The WPA also brought in the sand for the beach in front of the building along the lake front (which was redone in the 1960s by the EBRPD).

The Beach House served for many years as the headquarters of the Regional Park District.  It was closed in 1992 for seismic repairs and reopened in 2003.  Meanwhile, the EBRPD headquarters moved up to Skyline boulevard.

Lake Temescal was created by Anthony Chabot as the city of Oakland’s first water supply reservoir in 1868.  It sits in a natural cavity created by the movement of the Hayward Fault and a valley cut by Temescal Creek.