A new park aimed at residents of East Oakland situated just past the industrial warehouses that abut the tidal canal toward San Leandro Bay will become a reality thanks to millions in federal funding.
Oakland Rep. Lateefah Simon, who helped secure $11.2 million in federal funding that will partially pay for the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline park project, toured the location Friday for what proponents hope will be a new green space for the community.
“This is what justice looks like,” Simon said. “It’s what our children and what our community members deserve in any city that is extremely wealthy. … Why should the citizens of East Oakland get less?”
The East Bay Regional Park District’s long-awaited $37 million restoration effort will reclaim the approximately 28 acres of tidal marsh for indigenous Bay Area flora and fauna and also reintegrate land for residents who had largely been racially discriminated through housing policies related to redlining – a practice that effectively robbed largely Black and brown communities of open space for recreation, according to the park district.
View of the High Street bridge as people relax at Tidewater along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. Congresswoman Lateefah Simon delivered a federal check for more than $1 million to the East Bay Regional Park District for the planned Tidewater renovation. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A view of the High Street bridge as wildflowers bloom at Tidewater along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon delivered a federal check for more than $1 million to the East Bay Regional Park District for the planned Tidewater renovation. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Wildflowers bloom at Tidewater along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon delivered a federal check for more than $1 million to the East Bay Regional Park District for the planned Tidewater renovation. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Picnic tables are planned to be installed as part of the future Tidewater renovation project along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. Congresswoman Lateefah Simon delivered a federal check for more than $1 million to the East Bay Regional Park District. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A bird perches on a pole at the planned Tidewater renovation site along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. Congresswoman Lateefah Simon delivered a federal check for more than $1 million to the East Bay Regional Park District. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
East Bay Regional Park District staff and board members lead a tour for Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, center, of the planned Tidewater renovation along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. Simon delivered a federal check for more than $1 million to the East Bay Regional Park District. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
East Bay Regional Park District staff and board members lead a tour for Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, far back, of the planned Tidewater renovation along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. Simon delivered a federal check for more than $1 million to the East Bay Regional Park District. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, center, tours the planned Tidewater renovation along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. Simon delivered a federal check for more than $1 million to the East Bay Regional Park District. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, center, tours the planned Tidewater renovation along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. Simon delivered a federal check for more than $1 million to the East Bay Regional Park District. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Congresswoman Lateefah Simon speaks after delivering a federal check for more than a million dollars to East Bay Regional Park District to restore Tidewater along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
East Bay Regional Park District deputy general manager Max Korten, left, speaks as Congresswoman Lateefah Simon and EBRPD board member Luana España look on during a press conference at Tidewater along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. Simon delivered a federal check for more than a million dollars to the park district for the Tidewater restoration. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Congresswoman Lateefah Simon speaks before delivering a federal check for more than a million dollars to East Bay Regional Park District to restore Tidewater along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
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View of the High Street bridge as people relax at Tidewater along the East Bay shoreline in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2026. Congresswoman Lateefah Simon delivered a federal check for more than $1 million to the East Bay Regional Park District for the planned Tidewater renovation. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
“The location where we stand is also an historic redlined area, an area that was segregated and systematically denied communities of color access to home ownership and lending programs,” interim park district General Manager Max Korten said. “It’s not every day that we get to reclaim industrial space as park land for everyone.”
The project also will focus on improving water quality and restoring local ecosystems.
Native vegetation will be utilized to filter water, and a drainage system – which one district employee called “green baleen” – will capture and treat runoff from the former industrial site before it’s released to the bay.
The intertidal zone is a sensitive yet rich environment for the Bay Area’s ecology.
Waterbirds eat crab, shrimp and crayfish found in the muddy waters, while batrays and leopard sharks glide effortlessly through grass beds off the coast.
Beside the dock lay dozens of canoes owned by the East Bay Regional Park District, which proponents of the new park hope will be utilized more when construction is completed.
In remarks on Friday, Ward 4 East Bay Regional Park District Director Luana España said her father, who grew up in West Oakland, inspired her love of nature through trips to the Sierra Nevada foothills and hikes in the Oakland Hills. She described how those experiences in nature shaped her love and respect for its preservation.
“When you have an opportunity to touch those natural spaces, it changes who you are. It changes your health,” España said. “What can open space do to someone? I’m living proof.”