Tag: buildings

Hidden balcony offers views of Balboa Park!

People who enter Balboa Park through its grand west entrance pass a “hidden” balcony that few observe or know about!

The second floor balcony at the Museum of Us is accessible to museum visitors through the Living with Animals exhibit. The patio-like balcony, with its welcoming chairs and tables, offers views from the southwest corner of the California Quadrangle.

Visitors enjoy views over the Rube Powell Archery Range toward downtown San Diego, and of the Cabrillo Bridge to the west. There’s a fantastic view of the historic Balboa Park Administration Building across El Prado.

The next two photographs show the exterior of the Saint Francis Chapel at the southwest corner of the California Quadrangle.

Looking over the Rube Powell Archery Range toward State Route 163 and hazy downtown San Diego…

Now we’re looking west along El Prado toward the Cabrillo Bridge. Few people entering Balboa Park will notice the little known balcony as they approach the park’s grand west entrance…

The Administration Building, seen fully in the next photo, was the first building constructed (1911-1912) in Balboa Park for the Panama-California Exposition.

Final architectural plans for the Administration Building were developed by Carlton Winslow under the direction of lead exposition architect Bertram Goodhue.

(If it appears the building was designed by Irving Gill, here’s an article that casts doubt on this and discusses the issue.)

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Remnants of the old San Diego Sheriff’s Museum.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Museum once made its home in Old Town. Sadly, COVID-19 adversely affected its operation, and the museum closed its doors in 2020. Several times I had walked past the museum when it was still open, intending to pay a visit one day. I missed my opportunity.

Should you walk past the old location today (just south of the El Campo Santo cemetery on San Diego Avenue) you’ll find a few remnants of the San Diego Sheriff’s Museum still visible. I took these photographs from the sidewalk a couple weekends ago.

Fortunately, the San Diego Sheriff’s Museum maintains on online presence! Check out a virtual exhibit and more information on their website by clicking here.

The museum is working to find a new physical location. Their search for a new home is described here. If you’d like to help them out, you can provide a donation.

By the way, did you know there’s a San Diego Police Museum full of amazing exhibits? I visited it a couple years ago and posted photographs and descriptions here!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

History at Carlsbad by the Sea Retirement Community.

A historical plaque can be found in front of the Carlsbad by the Sea Retirement Community. I noticed it during my last walk up Carlsbad Boulevard.

Here’s a photo:

The plaque reads:

CARLSBAD BY THE SEA RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

Dedicated June 20, 1998

In 1881, Captain John A. Frazier, a homesteader, purchased 127 acres of oceanfront land for $1200. While drilling for drinking water in 1884, Frazier tapped into an underground mineral spring. He built a 510 foot welltower and began promoting the water’s healing properties to passing travelers on the Southern California Railroad. The site became known as “Frazier’s Station”. In 1886 Gerhard Schutte and Samuel Church Smith purchased the land and renamed it “Carlsbad” with the intention of building a health resort. In 1929, after the paving of nearby Highway 101, construction began on the Spanish-Revival style “California-Carlsbad Mineral Springs Hotel” on this site. By 1939, the spa functions had ceased and the hotel changed owners several times. In 1957, Lutheran Services of San Diego purchased and re-opened the hotel as a retirement community. California Lutheran Homes acquired the community in 1964. The original building was demolished in 1996 to complete an expansion and modernization of the retirement community. The front facade has been reconstructed by California Lutheran Homes and Community Services as a replica of the original “California Carlsbad Mineral Springs Hotel.” A time capsule, buried behind this monument, will be opened 50 years from the ground breaking in October of 2046.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Help solve a Carlsbad mural mystery!

I’ve no doubt someone out there has the solution to this mural mystery in Carlsbad!

I’ve done some online research but can find nothing about this old-fashioned mural on a wall beside the 2742 State Street building, which is home to Lofty Coffee Company.

The mural is very faded and partly obscured. I’ve greatly increased the contrast of the above photograph to help bring out the design and colors.

The painted mural centers on the historical Carlsbad train station and shows a steam locomotive on the nearby track. A horse is hitched to a cart advertising Village Limousine Service. Was that an actual business in Carlsbad?

Who created this nostalgic mural? When?

How much of the artwork is hidden by the adjacent building? Why is the standing wall that it was painted on seemingly preserved–the wall appears to be separate from the buildings on either side.

Please leave a comment if you know anything! I’m sure many readers would love to learn more about this engaging old public art!

UPDATE!

James R Dean on my Facebook page stated:

Its our guess that the lady who owned it prior (antique store) would know. The entire building was once all part of same mural. Very cool lady, shes still around. In the early 90s my mom found my toy chest there. (one of 3 made for family by my grandfather). I bought it and later had children who used it. My guess is this was painted in 80s and they left the one to keep some of the art.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

YMCA thrives inside historic La Jolla fire station!

The Shepherd YMCA Firehouse in La Jolla looks a lot like an old fire station. That’s because the historic building at 7877 Herschel Avenue once housed Fire Station Engine Company 13 . . . and City Hall, and a police station, a hospital room, and water department!

San Diego Architect Harold Abrams designed the 1937 building in the Spanish-Mission Revival style for the Works Progress Administration. In 1976, the fire and police stations relocated, and the building was used by City Lifeguards for a decade. It was later used by the Library Department for storage during branch renovations.

In 1988 the building opened as a Teen/Senior Community Center, then became a performing arts center in the early 2000s, then a gymnastics program center.

A renovation in 2015 led to the building’s reopening as the Shepherd YMCA Firehouse, which today is available as a very cool community space.

I learned all this several days ago during a walk in La Jolla. I was invited inside, where I could see how the historic firehouse has evolved into a thriving center for classes, meetings, programs and events. The old jail cell from its days as police station still exists, too!

What an attractive interior, and amazing wood beam ceiling!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

An amazing transformation at San Diego High School!

An amazing transformation is now underway at San Diego High School!

The school’s once drab appearance as seen from Park Boulevard is being radically altered. As you can see from these photographs taken today, a very cool new entrance is being built. San Diego’s oldest high school is being modernized!

The San Diego High School Administration & Classroom Building (Building 100) was an addition completed in 1976, and had all the stark aesthetics of many buildings designed in that era. The building serves as entrance to the campus.

Take a look at what’s coming!

You can see how the new glassy entrance with its cantilevered, sleekly projecting roof will make San Diego High School a new downtown landmark at the south end of Balboa Park! (Yes, the school is actually located inside Balboa Park.)

To learn about all the changes that are being made, and to view a flyover video of the project, check out the design team’s website here.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

Murals at Solana Beach Gateway Business Center.

You’ve possibly seen these large murals while driving along Interstate 5 at Lomas Santa Fe Drive. The beautiful artwork decorates several walls of the Solana Beach Gateway Business Center.

I took a very long walk through Solana Beach several days ago and made it a point to check these out!

The murals were painted by Encinitas resident Kevin Anderson. They are obviously inspired by local coastal scenes. Looking at the artist signatures, I see they were completed individually over the course of years.

Here’s the artist’s website. You’ve enjoyed photographs of Kevin Anderson’s art previously on Cool San Diego Sights. Here and here and here.

As you approach the Solana Beach Gateway Business Center building via its main driveway, you see this:

The next mural was completed on 9-25-20:

It appears that the next one, with the mermaid, was completed in 2021:

The next one showing a family walking down to the beach was painted in 2022. Is that Fletcher Cove?

I found no date for the last one. It’s my favorite. I see a Coaster train passing under the bridge at Torrey Pines State Beach!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

Blazing sunrise photos along Harbor Drive!

Enjoy these photographs, taken early this morning around sunrise.

I walked through downtown San Diego along Harbor Drive, then on down Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade, which parallels Harbor Drive. The sun would rise almost directly in front of me behind thin clouds.

You can see how dramatic the blazing sunrise was!

These photographs taken by my old camera are unaltered, except for some cropping. (I’m feeling lazy. Yes, I could’ve sharpened a few of them.)

What a beautiful day! What a beautiful city!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

Navy SEAL display at America Plaza trolley station!

An eye-catching display concerning the U.S. Navy SEALs was recently installed at the America Plaza trolley station in downtown San Diego. Informative signs and historic artifacts behind panes of glass can be observed from a passenger platform.

Next year, the new 10,000 square foot Navy SEAL Museum San Diego will open at the One America Plaza building. It will occupy the two-story space that rises behind stairs on the west side of the trolley tracks–it’s where the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art once had a gallery at 1001 Kettner Boulevard. (The windows of the future museum are now covered with Navy SEAL graphics.)

I was extremely fortunate to enjoy a tour of the museum’s interior construction this afternoon and look forward to blogging about the museum as time rolls on! I can assure you, from what I saw and was told, it’s going to be amazing!

Meanwhile, passengers waiting for the trolley at America Plaza can view the life-size “Gill-man” and the shining BUD/S Bell. The significance of both are explained by nearby signs.

(Sorry, but I had trouble photographing the Creature From the Black Lagoon-like “Gill-man” through the reflecting glass. Head over to the trolley station to see it yourself!)

So you want to be a Frogman? Photographs of Navy SEAL recruits with “Gill-man.” They meet the amphibious creature at the beginning of their Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) Training and during their successful graduation. The life-size creature was a gift from Class 63 who procured it from a store in Tijuana, Mexico!

The Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training Bell is a large brass bell positioned in the center of the training area. Trainees ring the bell three times if they wish to quit. I learned about 20-25% of Navy Seal recruits complete the physically demanding training. Success requires sheer determination.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

More colorful and tasty holiday sights downtown!

Two walks through downtown San Diego. Yesterday, and early this morning before sunrise.

Another helping of colorful and tasty holiday photographs!

San Diego’s famous U.S. Grant Hotel is brightly lit Christmas green and red for the 2024 holiday season.

Advertisement on a downtown San Diego bus stop shelter promotes the Holiday Bowl, which is coming up on Friday, December 27.

The plaza in front of 550 West C Street has become a magical holiday wonderland.

A beautifully lit wreath in the same plaza.

Last year’s illuminated “Christmas crane” is back in the sky above downtown San Diego!

Santa has landed at a building under construction!

Someone from Italy also took photos of this Christmas spectacle while standing on the sidewalk beside me. She commented this is a sight you’d only see in America. I’ll take that as a good thing!

If you want to feel good, drop into the Donut Bar and say Hi to my friends.

Hungry for a super scrumptious chocolate yule log? Call the Donut Bar and they’ll make one for you!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!