Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto

People hoping to dine at the seafood restaurant Saturday night were instead greeted by a white sign emblazoned above the handles of a ship’s wheel affixed to the door, declaring that “Spenger’s has closed its doors permanently.”

Local indigenous leaders held a press conference Friday to provide updates on their continued efforts to prevent development at the West Berkeley Shellmound site at 1900 4th St., which they consider to be a sacred burial site of the Ohlone Indians.

A set of maps from the United States Geological Survey website has sparked debate about the development of affordable housing on the Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto’s parking lot, because of information gleaned about the site’s environmental history.

In what was one of the most well-attended Zoning Adjustments Board meetings in the last four years, representatives of city groups and other community members met last Thursday to comment on the potential consequences of the West Berkeley Project and evaluate its draft Environmental Impact Report.

Human remains, possibly those of an Ohlone Indian, were uncovered last month at a Fourth Street construction site — right outside the boundaries of a city-designated historic landmark, the West Berkeley Shellmound.

Community members and UC Berkeley students marched in a peaceful protest Saturday morning, entering restaurants to read the names of black men killed by police and vigilantes.

The area surrounding Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto Restaurant, a historic building in West Berkeley, may be expanded to include a beer garden and other new retail, according to development plans discussed at the city’s Design Review Committee meeting last week.