All buildings at the old Jensen's Oyster Beds property north of Marshall are set to be demolished next spring and the area restored to its natural habitat, Park Service officials said last week.
The 41-acre property north of Nick's Cove has been owned the Golden Gate National Recreation Area since 1987, and the old waterfront tavern and cabins have since been allowed to deteriorate.
A new parking lot and trail are planned for the area, John Dell-Osso, acting chief of Interpretation for Point Reyes National Seashore, told members of the park advisory committee last Saturday.
The trail would run atop an old railroad grade along the shore. It would have two viewpoints and connect with Miller County Park. Wheel-chair access is planned, and the parking lot would hold 12 vehicles, Dell'Osso told The Light.
"It's very scenic walking along the edge of Tomales Bay, sheltered from Highway 1 traffic," Dell'Osso said. "There is designated wilderness directly across the bay."
While a dozen of the 18 buildings at Jensen's are eligible for the National Register of historic places, all are in such poor condition that relocation or restoration is impractical, he said. One is the old restaurant and bar, called Jensen's Oyster Beds.
"One [building] blew over on its side within the last two months," he said. "The floors are warped, broken and rotten."
The rickety buildings were heavily vandalized six months after GGNRA bought them from Virginia Jensen in 1987. In 1991, two cabins and a dockhouse burned down, possibly the result of arson.
The public will have a chance to comment on the plan once it is formalized, probably by December. After that the Park Service will submit it to the National Registrar for approval.
Members of Marshall's East Shore Planning Group support the plan, especially since no restrooms or other facilities would get built, said group president Drew Alden.
"This [plan] allows people to use the federal parklands without needing huge changes in the environment," Alden said. "... It's better to use the facility rather than let it sit there and rot."
Shellfish were cultivated in the muddy shore as early as 1923. Runoff from the 1982 storm silted-over or washed away the last oyster crop, Jensen told The Light this week.
Jensen said she got little help from the government for relocating to the 25-acre ranch in Tomales where she now lives. She reared five children at Jensen's with her husband Henry, who drowned in the bay in 1971.
"I'm only four miles away, but it could be a million," Jensen said, adding that people will surely enjoy her old property as a new park.