Tag: construction

Jessop’s Street Clock removed from Horton Plaza.

The historic 1907 Jessop’s Street Clock, San Diego’s biggest tourist attraction over a century ago, has been removed from Horton Plaza. I made the discovery after work today as I walked through downtown’s once popular but now almost vacant shopping mall.

Horton Plaza is to undergo redevelopment. The one-of-a-kind, gold-plated, precious gem-filled, award-winning Jessop’s Clock has been moved to a warehouse for refurbishment. According to a posted notice of application, the amazing street clock will be reinstalled at a new location.

To learn more about the history of the Jessop’s Street Clock, and see many more photographs, you can check out an old blog post of mine here.

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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 Twitter!

Messages written on the city sidewalks.

As I wander around San Diego, I observe messages written on the sidewalks.

Many of the messages are essential. Some recall history. A few are mysterious. Some are fading.

On these common sidewalks, the forward paths of our lives intersect.

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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 Twitter!

Surprising contrasts on a quiet walk.

Sunday afternoon I took the trolley to East County to enjoy a quiet walk near Gillespie Field. I knew that along Marshall Avenue there’d be no traffic.

As I walked down the long, empty sidewalk I turned my eyes toward sleepy hangars across the street, burgeoning spring flowers at my feet and a large construction site abandoned for the day. All I heard was the whisper of the breeze, birds flitting here or there and small planes rising into the sky.

The time and place was perfect for a stretch of thinking. I’m struggling with a short story that is particularly difficult. It’s a story about the complexity of people and the small actions that help to define a life. I keep changing the words.

As I walked along in a state of abstraction I slowly became aware of surprising shapes and contrasts in the world all around me. Exactly like the complexity we find in ourselves.

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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 Twitter!

What’s that up there?

A dirty spot.
A dirty spot.

During a recent morning walk through downtown San Diego and the Gaslamp Quarter, my curious eyes kept turning upward.

What’s that up there?

New paint.
Fresh paint.
The sun about to rise.
The sun about to rise.
A baseball cap.
A baseball cap.
Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu.
Construction at the 1887 Grand Pacific Hotel.
Construction at the 1887 Grand Pacific Hotel.
A guy hanging from the roof of a hostel.
A guy hanging from the roof of a downtown hostel!

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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 Twitter!

Getting ready for a new Padres season!

New graphics for the 2019 Padres baseball season are now being applied around Petco Park.
New graphics for the 2019 Padres baseball season are now being applied around Petco Park.

Everyone is hustling to get ready for the 2019 Padres baseball season. Opening Day is a week from tomorrow!

I’ve noticed all sorts of preparations now underway at Petco Park, and at businesses on surrounding streets. Petco Park has been getting a new paint job and new player graphics are being applied to the rear of the two big videoboards. One major theme this year is the recent signing of superstar Manny Machado.

Will 2019 be the season the Padres turn the corner and become a winning team?

Fingers crossed!

The first street lamp banners to go up promote the free, family friendly Opening Day Block Party. The annual event will take place Thursday and Friday next week in East Village.
The first street lamp banners to go up promote the free, family friendly Opening Day Block Party. The annual event will take place Thursday and Friday next week in East Village.
A new Manny Machado shirt is now on display in a window of the Padres Team Store.
A new Manny Machado shirt is now on display in a window of the Padres Team Store.
We Who Reign graphic on a vendor cart inside the Park at the Park.
We Who Reign graphic on a vendor cart inside the Park at the Park.
Great progress is being made in erecting the new permanent concert stage in the Park at the Park.
Progress is being made erecting the new permanent concert stage in the Park at the Park.
A worker was welding when I walked past.
A worker was welding when I walked past.
Various restaurants and bars in East Village and the Gaslamp Quarter are putting up Padres banners and posters.
Various restaurants and bars in East Village and the Gaslamp Quarter are putting up Padres banners and posters.
GO PADRES
GO PADRES
Manny Machado has appeared in a window between Will Ferrell and Eric Hosmer!
Manny Machado has appeared in a window between Will Ferrell and Eric Hosmer!

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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 Twitter!

Building a permanent concert stage at Petco Park!

A new, permanent concert stage is now being built at Petco Park!

I walked through the Park at the Park today and saw workers erecting the large stage behind the wall-like batter’s eye, where temporary stages have been set up for special events in past years.

A couple mornings ago I walked around Petco Park looking for new banners, graphics and cool stuff in anticipation of the 2019 Padres baseball season. I spoke to a Padres employee who was doing some maintenance, and he indicated that the new stage will be operated by Live Nation, and will be used as a venue for concerts and other fun events throughout the year!

Great idea!

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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 Twitter!

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Photos of elevated trolley line construction.

If you’ve driven up Interstate 5 through La Jolla and University City, you’ve probably seen some impressive construction right next to the freeway. The extension of the San Diego Trolley’s Blue Line is now being built, and much of what is called the Mid-Coast Trolley will be elevated.

The new trolley line will turn from the freeway down Genesee Avenue and finally end at an elevated station at the recently renovated University Towne Centre shopping mall (now called Westfield UTC), adjacent to bus stops at the UTC Transit Center.

On Sunday, as I waited for a bus at the UTC Transit Center, I walked up Genesee Avenue to check out a short stretch of the trolley extension. My photos show what will be the north terminus of the Mid-Coast Trolley.

The project is impressive. Simulations of the UTC Transit Center station and other Mid-Coast Corridor stations can be found here. The trolley extension is scheduled to be completed in 2021.

As I took photos, I was fascinated by the strangely beautiful complexity. Layers of geometric shapes can be observed in the wood, concrete and steel supporting construction of the elevated tracks and station.

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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 Twitter!