Excerpt:

$50 million maintenance and operations center for the ferries that traverse San Francisco Bay officially opened on Thursday.

Along with being a place to dock and repair up to 12 boats at a time, the center at the former Alameda Naval Air Station will be the emergency hub of the Water Emergency Transportation Authority — which operates the ferry system — if a major disaster hits the Bay Area and freeways and bridges are closed.

The spot near the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum is the new home of WETA’s central bay ferry fleet, or the vessels that operate on its Alameda, Oakland and South San Francisco routes, as well as those that will provide the future Richmond and Treasure Island service.