San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park is undergoing a transformation. Gardens are being created around the newly renovated Botanical Building and the Lily Pond.
Phase 2 of the Botanical Building and Gardens revitalization project includes the creation of a new Entry Garden along either side of the long Lily Pond. New plants will be introduced where thin strips of grass now stretch along the water’s edge.
Today I observed workers digging up the grass on the west side of the Lily Pond.
This article explains that the Entry Garden will greet visitors along the Lily Pond with bold, high-contrast plantings in pink and lime green, including Agave Blue Flame.
One effect of this change, I suppose, is the pond will be more protected from human encroachment. The ducks might appreciate this. So, too, might parents with young children teetering at the water’s edge.
I look forward to seeing the result of this transformation. More gardens around the Botanical Building will likely mean more beauty!
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Major improvements are coming later this year to Balboa Park, San Diego’s beautiful crown jewel!
In the park’s Palisades area, new historical markers are on the way. They’ll be placed near the entrances of the San Diego Automotive Museum, Municipal Gymnasium, and the Comic-Con Museum.
In addition, nearby lamp posts that date from the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition are to be sandblasted and restored to look like new!
Most importantly, the Municipal Gymnasium’s exterior is going to change substantially, to more closely match the building’s appearance in 1935, when during the exposition it was called the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries. You can learn more about the changes that are coming by clicking here.
These fantastic improvements are being made through a partnership between the Balboa Park Committee of 100 and the City of San Diego.
Today some folks were meeting in the park making decisions concerning the project, including the placement of the historical signs, and the exact color of the sculptural ornamentation that will added to the front of the Municipal Gymnasium.
I stumbled upon today’s activity, learned a little about the project, and took a few photos.
At the start of September, construction fencing will appear in the Palisades and work will begin! I was told all should be completed by Thanksgiving.
The next photo is how today’s Municipal Gymnasium appeared in 1935, when it was the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries…
Photo courtesy of San Diego City Clerk Archives.
This is how it might appear when all is said and done…
And this was observed today…
Sample ornamental panels, or sculptural blocks, were on a table and being considered today. They will be made of glass-fiber reinforced concrete.
I learned the band of ornamentation above the coming 14 feet by 22 feet cold-cast bronze relief mural will be slightly darker than the building’s current color. The ornamentation on the marquee will be more of a bronze color.
Some of the original 1935 lamp posts that will be restored!
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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.
If you’ve walked around San Diego’s Balboa Park in the past week, you might have noticed fencing has appeared all around the newly renovated Botanical Building. Phase 2 of the Botanical Building and Gardens revitalization is now underway!
Lush gardens are to be planted all around the Botanical Building! Even behind it!
The new landscaping will be receiving a $10 million makeover, with nine themed garden spaces. You can get an idea of how things might appear when all is said and done by visiting this Forever Balboa Park webpage.
Phase 2 includes installing dozens of historically accurate benches near fountains and around the Lily Pond, and recreating a grand pergola to match the one that disappeared during the federal government’s wartime takeover.
It’s hard to imagine how the Botanical Building in Balboa Park could become even more beautiful. But it’s going to happen!
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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.
San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) workers were testing a new development at the Gaslamp Quarter trolley station this morning. They were setting up that large umbrella in my photo!
I learned that during upcoming Comic-Cons and other similar events near the San Diego Convention Center, temporary umbrellas will be installed at the station platform to provide shade. One of the umbrellas, I was told, will shade a spot for police canines. Dogs can overheat in San Diego’s summer sunshine!
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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.
Substantial improvements are being made to Heritage County Park near Old Town San Diego. The grassy upper area will soon feature a new outdoor meeting space/classroom, new walkways, trees and shrubs, and a new event gazebo perfect for weddings. The project is scheduled to be completed this summer.
I took photos over the construction fence a couple days ago. Hundreds of potted plants are in position and ready to be planted.
The historic Victorian-era structures in Heritage County Park will also be improved according to the park’s website.
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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.
Large display cases contain old photographs, newspaper articles, documents and preserved artifacts representing the bridge’s complex history–from initial proposals to its construction to its grand opening and beyond.
Peering into the displays, reading descriptions, I learned interesting facts about the Coronado Bridge, including:
In 1926, the Spreckels Companies announced bold plans to construct a steel bridge linking Coronado to San Diego, envisioning an engineering marvel with arched spans and a lift section for maritime traffic. This news thrilled many residents eager for a fast connection to the mainland. Advocating for a tunnel instead, the Navy raised concerns about navigation and national defense. Despite initial optimism and plans for completion by 1928, the project became embroiled in decades of debate, delays, and revisions.
Mosher’s design was initially rejected by the state’s civil engineers for being too expensive. They proposed a more traditional trestle bridge, suggesting it be painted rust red or pink. Ultimately, Mosher’s design was accepted.
Water-tight caissons were placed on the bay bottom and pumped dry, while prestressed concrete pilings were driven over 100 feet into the bay floor. To complete the 30 towers, 100,000 tons of concrete were transported by barge for the construction of the piers.
The superstructure contractor Murphy Pacific fabricated the steel box girders in San Francisco before dismantling them and loading them onto a barge called “Marine Boss,” whose deck was the size of a football field. The barge was towed to San Diego Bay, where the girders were reassembled. The “Marine Boss” boom was extended to 290 feet to lift the massive box girder sections–up to 96 feet long and weighing as much as 215 tons–into place.
The final span, one of 27 girders, was placed on May 28, 1969. Coronado Mayor Paul Vetter participating in the informal ceremony, signing his name on the metal plate at the edge of the girder.
Mosher’s original design included lights on the low side of the railing, but they were cut to reduce costs… Coronado resident Carol Cahill…flew to Sacramento, successfully petitioned officials, and secured their installation. The lights were added in April 1970.
In 1970, the bridge received the National Award of Merit for Most Beautiful Bridge from the American Institute of Steel Construction.
The bridge’s 90-degree curve allows it to reach a height of 200 feet, tall enough for an empty aircraft carrier to pass underneath, while also providing the necessary length to ramp down to the Coronado side, which is significantly lower than the San Diego side that connects to Interstate 5.
I was told by a library employee that this fascinating exhibit will be on view through early May, 2025. Go check it out!
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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.
Was that a strange mirage in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter this morning? I don’t think so!
The Museum of Illusions San Diego had its front door open and construction workers streaming in and out. Their building has a brand new paint job and a big Museum of Illusions sign above the entrance. It appears they’re getting ready to open soon!
That’s what their website says, too. Check it out here.
Mind-boggling holograms, optical illusions, rooms that puzzle human perception and play tricks on your mind…
Sounds cool!
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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.
Sweetwater Park will be opening later this year beside San Diego Bay in Chula Vista. Everyone will be able to enjoy recreation, nature trails, a big playground and more in the 21-acre public park.
Sweetwater Park will stretch from Bayside Park (to be redeveloped into Harbor Park) and the new Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center, north to Sweetwater Marsh and the Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay RV resort.
Back in October, I walked up the footpath that was already open along the east side of the park (which I now see is called Sweetwater Bicycle Path & Promenade). The park itself was fenced off at the time, and it still is today. But changes have occurred!
You can see how Sweetwater Park appeared late last year by checking out my old blog post here. Since then a number of new structures have been built, including landmark signs at either end, a tall, quite strange wishbone-shaped sculpture near the center of the park, and the big, awesome-looking playground!
Here I am walking south to north yesterday…
I took the following photographs over the construction fence…
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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.
San Diego is going to be made even more beautiful!
A shady pergola that once stood near Balboa Park’s Botanical Building during the 1915 Panama-California Exposition is to be rebuilt!
The construction of the pergola is part of a larger Botanical Building and Gardens revitalization project. The Botanical Building’s amazing restoration has been completed, so it’s on to Phase 2, which includes bringing back into existence this historic pergola.
I noticed a sign on a patch of grass during my most recent visit to Balboa Park. It indicates the future site of the Botanical Building Historical Pergola.
You can learn more about the project by visiting Forever Balboa Park’s website here.
The pergola site is beside the west fountain in the front of the Botanical Building. The next photo provides an idea. (Behind it you can see the San Diego Museum of 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.
A new public park, nature center and educational facility is rising in Mission Valley!
The River Center at Grant Park, an amazing project of the San Diego River Park Foundation, is gradually taking form on Camino del Rio North, immediately east of Qualcomm Way.
I walked in Mission Valley yesterday afternoon and took photographs of the River Center over the surrounding construction fence. It was exciting to see how one building is now standing near the center’s entrance.
Last summer I enjoyed a tour of the new River Center and posted a blog here. Since then several structures have appeared, as you can see in these photos.
A kiosk has appeared outside what will be the River Center at Grand Park.I love the artwork on this long construction wall at one end of the coming park space.I took this photo near the park’s future entrance.I believe this building near the Entry Courtyard is The Den pavilion structure. It will include restrooms.A walkway at the park entrance that will lead to an outdoor amphitheater. (The construction you see near the top of this photo is a completely separate commercial project on the opposite side of the San Diego River.)The San Diego River Foundation needs you to join their volunteer team!
Feeling inspired? Would you like to help the San Diego River Park Foundation?
Opportunities include habitat restoration projects, river clean-up events, educational volunteer experiences, joining the Grant Park River Center care team, becoming a community engagement volunteer, and administrative support opportunities.
Cool San Diego Sights! 