Excerpt:

The groundbreaking for the Water Emergency Transportation Authority’s $45 million operations and ferry maintenance center at the former U.S. Navy base in Alameda will take place Sept. 15.

Construction of the center, which will be located at Ferry Point Road and West Hornet Avenue near the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum, is expected to begin later this year and be completed in 2018.

The facility will be the future home of WETA’s central San Francisco Bay ferry fleet, providing a place to berth and maintain vessels that operate on its Alameda, Oakland and South San Francisco ferry routes, as well as those that will provide the future Richmond and Treasure Island service.

The center will include a 70-foot high four-story building with administrative and other offices, including for coordinating the water and ferry response following an earthquake or other emergency.