Tag: construction

Erecting the Exchange Pavilion in Balboa Park!

A large steel structure is now being erected near the center of San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park! It’s the Exchange Pavilion, another initiative of World Design Capital 2024!

San Diego/Tijuana won the coveted title of World Design Capital for 2024. There have been many activities and activations related to this international honor, and the Exchange Pavilion is the newest of these.

The lightweight skeletal structure evident in my photographs is being built in the Plaza de Panama, in front of the San Diego Museum of Art. The pavilion is designed to bring people together, along with their diverse ideas and experiences. Interconnectedness and collaboration are appropriate themes for the first ever binational World Design Capital designation.

The Exchange Pavilion, when completed, will feature interactive digital displays, special lighting, and a space for lectures, performances, workshops and more. It was designed by HELEO in collaboration with Tijuana, Mexico based visual artist Daniel Ruanova.

This very unique installation will remain in Balboa Park all summer long. It will then be relocated to Tijuana in the fall. I was told it will be completed and will open this Saturday, August 10!

I suppose I’ll have to swing by this weekend to check it out!

UPDATE!

I walked through the Plaza de Panama on Friday afternoon and saw that construction of the pavilion is still underway. The narrow digital displays appear to be functioning.

I was told by someone at the site that the Exchange Pavilion will now open on Wednesday!

ANOTHER UPDATE!

I walked by again on Sunday. I learned the pavilion will now open next Saturday 17, 2024.

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Restoration of Botanical Building in Balboa Park looks amazing!

Look at these photographs that were taken last week!

I was heading through Balboa Park to the Comic-Con Museum (for my Comic-Con coverage) when I noticed that the restoration of the Botanical Building appears to be near completion. Look how amazingly beautiful it’s going to be!

Workers were busy painting the non-lath lower part of the immense structure. The area in front of the Botanical Building behind the construction fence, where grassy lawns and a small section of the lily pond have existed, was still mostly bare dirt.

If you’d like to see photos showing different stages of the Botanical Building’s deconstruction and restoration, and read more info concerning it (going back over two years), you can click here and here and here and here and here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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.

Preparations outside Comic-Con: 2 days to go!

Preparations are well underway for all the activities outside the San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con 2024!

I walked through San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, along MLK Promenade and around the convention center a couple times today, curious to see what all is going on. I took a bunch of photos! (You might notice I haven’t sharpened or edited them.)

First, The Penguin banners were going up along the trolley tracks across from the convention center…

There’s going to be an Unknown Comics Pop-Up Store in the Gaslamp.

Workers were getting The Lodge ready for Paramount+.

Batman: Caped Crusader posters pasted to a downtown San Diego wall.

The two Star Trek/Dr. Who offsite locations now have outside graphics.

Workers were adding superhero graphics to the Marvel Contest of Champions Ferris wheel.

The Marriott Marquis now has Dragon Ball graphics above the front entrance.

Workers were preparing the Dragon Ball offsite on the Marriott Marquis Marina Terrace.

Here I’m walking down the bayside boardwalk toward the Hilton.

Abbott Elementary’s A.V.A. FEST has added their big slide. Happy people will plunge into a ball pit.

Work is finally underway at Adult Swim’s offsite: the Pirate Parrrty!

Workers are putting up the big FX wrap on the Hilton promoting What We Do in the Shadows.

Peeking into the FX offsite. Looks like a topiary garden.

More photos of the FX activation at Comic-Con.

Peacock’s offsite in Gaslamp Square, recreating the ancient Roman stadium Circus Maximus, now has a handsome exterior.

Baja Rick’s at Gaslamp Square now has graphics promoting the Olympic Games on NBC.

IGN is getting their balcony at the Hard Rock Hotel ready. Watch for celebrities here!

Workers are finishing up the AMC building wraps on the Hilton Gaslamp.

Getting the Peanuts offsite ready on Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade.

Not sure what this will be for.

The entrance is being created for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, just beyond Peanuts.

San Diego is nearly ready for Comic-Con in 2024! Preview Night is in two days!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Building the Circus Maximus in San Diego!

The ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium Circus Maximus is presently being built in San Diego! Workers are putting the structure together in downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Square!

Admittedly, this Circus Maximus might be more of a minimus, seeing how it’s vastly smaller than the Roman ruin. It’s going to be a super cool offsite during Comic-Con 2024!

Comic-Con fans who enter the stadium (which I previously and mistakenly assumed was the Colosseum) will get to actually ride simulated chariots! While hundreds of tiny Romans cheer!

The whole experience promotes Peacock’s new series Those About to Die. As you can see in the next photo, the new Gaslamp Square video screen operated by MTS is showing an advertisement for the Roman gladiator show.

Circus might also describe activities outside Comic-Con once the international pop culture convention begins. Massive crowds and loads of craziness! The good kind!

UPDATE!

Whoa! Check it out! Later on I saw this…

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Here come the San Diego Comic-Con offsites!

Comic-Con is back in full force! After a few difficult years, due to COVID and a writers strike, it seems that in 2024 the epic international pop culture convention is going to be bigger and more exciting than ever! And outside the San Diego Convention Center there will be many fun offsites for the public to enjoy!

Many of those offsite activations are now under construction with less than a week to go until Comic-Con begins.

I walked around downtown San Diego, the Gaslamp and the convention center this morning and found all sorts of exciting activity. Check out these photos…

First up, The Lodge is under construction at the Happy Does Bar on Fifth Avenue. The Lodge is an activation that will showcase Paramount+ shows…

Next, at Gaslamp Square, Peacock’s unique Those About to Die Chariot Racing offsite is under construction. I was told visitors can actually ride around the tiny colosseum that is being built!

When I walked over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge, I noticed a lot of canopies are being prepared outside the San Diego Convention Center! It’s summer, the lines and crowds will be big, and shade will be welcome!

Between the convention center and the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, FX is setting up on the grass in their usual spot. I suspect that big building wrap on the Hilton will promote What We Do in the Shadows…

Not much is ready with Adult Swim’s offsite, yet. Looks like their usual setup…

I believe that next behind the convention center is the Hulu offsite. I’ll have to wait and see. I read the Abbott Elementary A.V.A. Fest offsite will be somewhere back here, too…

The Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina’s Terrace is where Dragon Ball will have their always super cool offsite. Workers were cleaning to get ready this morning…

A Shaun of the Dead offsite will be at 520 Fifth Avenue during Comic-Con 2024. I spotted a Winchester Tavern sign on the sidewalk outside!

What are these mysterious props coming down the street in a truck? Time will tell!

UPDATE!

The following morning I walked around to see what progress had been made…

First, I found where the Abbott Elementary offsite will be–at the end of the superyacht landing. They were getting ready to erect the A.V.A. FEST’s big swing ride!

Then I walked past Hulu’s huge site, which they continue to work on…

I passed the Adult Swim offsite by, where not much had happened yet, and then checked out FX’s progress, including their big wrap on the Hilton…

I crossed over to the Gaslamp where I checked out Peacock’s Those About to Die chariot racing offsite. My next blog post will show what I saw here this Sunday morning in more detail.

On the grass to one side of the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp some workers had begun conferring. I didn’t speak to them, but I’m assuming the Marvel Champions Ferris wheel will be here.

Some more construction going on at The Lodge…

And the Shaun of the Dead offsite up Fifth Avenue is making progress..

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

U.S. Navy SEAL stares out a window!

I was walking past One America Plaza in downtown San Diego this morning when I had to stop in my tracks and do a double take. Staring out a window at 1001 Kettner Boulevard was a U.S. Navy SEAL!

The surprising window graphic draws attention to the fact that this building is the future home of Navy SEAL Museum San Diego. You might recall how years ago this space, across from Santa Fe Depot, was used as a gallery by the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. (MCASD has since moved everything from their downtown San Diego location to La Jolla.)

As you can see from my photo, construction of the new Navy SEAL museum is now underway. According to their website, Navy SEAL Museum San Diego is scheduled to open in 2025.

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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.

Model of new Freedom Park at Navy Pier.

Near the center of the hangar deck of the USS Midway Museum, there’s a scale model of Freedom Park at Navy Pier. When completed, this large, new public park will occupy the historic pier that the USS Midway aircraft carrier has called home now for 20 years.

One can walk around the model and visualize in three dimensions how Freedom Park will appear when it has its Grand Opening, which is scheduled for Spring 2028. The park will include a formal parade ground, plenty of grass for recreation, gardens, benches, play structures, trees and winding walkways, and a monumental flag at the pier’s end which will be visible from downtown and across San Diego Bay.

This informative presentation provides an excellent overview of the plans for Freedom Park, including a detailed map and timeline for completion.

The parade ground will feature a central statue of John William Finn, San Diego area resident and last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from the attack on Pearl Harbor. The park will also feature a Family and Sacrifice Monument, honoring the sacrifices thousands of military families have made, telling their stories. Navy Pier was once where many families waved goodbye to departing sailors.

A Footsteps of Freedom interpretive path will follow the length of Navy Pier and circle around the USS Midway, connecting with the present-day Greatest Generation Walk, where many military monuments exist today. (Including this Navy plaque, whose exact origin was a mystery, until some of this blog’s readers provided amazing information!)

Other features will enhance the new Freedom Park, such as a Digital Journey that people can follow with their smartphones.

Today, after viewing the model and taking a few photos, I asked a docent at the Midway Museum: where will visitors park their cars? (Most of the parking lot now atop the pier will be vanishing.) He informed me there is underground parking at the new RaDD complex across Harbor Drive. A small parking lot will remain near the entrance of the museum.

Of course, a project of this magnitude requires a lot of funding. There’s more money to be raised. If you’d like to buy a Freedom Park Legacy Brick and help with this effort, click here.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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.

Demolition begins on San Diego’s Navy Pier.

Demolition has begun of the crumbling structure on the east end of Navy Pier. The old building is the last remnant of San Diego’s historic Naval Supply Depot, which grew over the years into a major complex. You can read the fascinating history here.

Over the next few years, the surface of Navy Pier, including the large parking lot next to the USS Midway, will be converted into beautiful Freedom Park! The project is a partnership between the Port of San Diego and the USS Midway Museum.

Today I learned from a museum employee that before the walls of the old headhouse are torn down, workers are busy removing asbestos and doing the preliminary things that are necessary.

You can visualize how Freedom Park at Navy Pier will appear when completed by visiting this web page. I was told the park, which will honor “ordinary” heroes, will likely be finished in 2027.

When I was a young man I observed dozens of Army tanks parked inside this building and lined up along the pier. I wish I’d taken photographs. I believe that was back in the 1980s.

UPDATE!

The exterior demolition had begun in August…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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.

Preview of new River Center in Mission Valley!

This weekend the public has the opportunity to enjoy a tour of the incredible River Center that’s currently being built in Mission Valley!

The annual San Diego River Days event of the San Diego River Park Foundation includes community tours of the River Center at Grant Park, which is located east of Qualcomm Way along Camino del Rio North.

Rob Hutsel, President and CEO of the San Diego River Park Foundation, provided a guided walking tour this morning that I and several others thoroughly enjoyed. He explained how in the next 6 to 8 weeks the River Center will really be taking shape, with many of its features finally completed.

He explained how the center will be an active outdoor classroom for thousands of San Diego school children–particularly Title 1 schools within a 15 minute drive, serving urban, less affluent communities.

The River Center is designed to welcome city kids who might have no real experience out in nature. They will be eased into the experience from the moment school buses arrive, enjoying presentations in a 100-seat amphitheater by the entry courtyard. I learned there will be animal encounters hosted by Joan Embery!

Kids will then walk past a waterfall, separate into smaller groups, and walk down nature trails, where they will learn about the environment and the San Diego River: its geology, history, flora and fauna.

If you’d like to go on one of these preview tours, you have the chance tomorrow–Sunday, May 19–between 9:30 am and 11:30 am. Check out the San Diego River Days website for more information here!

In September there will be a big Grand Opening celebration! Stay tuned!

Construction gate at the future entrance to the River Center at Grant Park in Mission Valley. The area beyond used to be an abandoned sand mining site.

Early visitors have arrived for the first tour that would preview the new River Center.

The public can support the project by buying personalized pavers at the River Center’s entrance.

Kids stepping off school buses will encounter wild animal tracks in a concrete walkway.

Almost time to start our early Saturday morning tour!

A rendering of the entry courtyard, showing The Den pavilion structure with restrooms and a sheltered sitting area that faces a stage and river trees. Famous animal educator Joan Embery is partnering with the River Center and will provide animal presentations (perhaps a hawk) for young students!

This is where the 100-seat outdoor amphitheater with stage will be built.

Much of the dirt area in the 17-acre River Center will soon be transformed into a beautiful park space. A gateway garden and expanse of grass (Grant Park) will be open to the public! Just beyond Rob will be an artificial waterfall!

A walkway will wind toward the south side of the San Diego River. There will be lighting along the path. The environmentally friendly River Center will be powered mostly by solar.

Where the walkway turns there will be a beautiful arbor–an acoustic shade structure.

Just beyond the arbor, a dirt trail will lead into nature. Kids in small groups will be led by trained educators into the native river environment.

Here we go! The irrigation pipes you see will eventually be removed.

Kids can learn about how buckwheat seeds spread, and learn about plants and trees like prickly pear and lemonade berry, and willows and oaks.

Gazing down toward the San Diego River in mid-May, when water levels are low. That’s Interstate 805 in the distance. I saw birds flitting about in the lush greenery.

Now we’re back on the curving concrete walkway, looking at the visionary River Center at Grant Park project. Some big boulders were donated, adding beauty to the park space.

Rendering shows families enjoying the grass of Grant Park when it’s finally completed.

Master gardeners will be adding their expertise to the public park. The California Garden Clubs will also be contributing. The River Center and park will be alive with birds. As our tour concluded, a swallow flew overhead.

Join the effort to open the River Center at Grant Park! Donations for this amazing (but expensive) project are appreciated!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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.

Tour the new River Center at Grant Park!

The public has a special opportunity to tour the new River Center at Grant Park this Saturday. The amazing nature center beside the San Diego River in Mission Valley is currently under construction. Completion is scheduled for this summer. The goal is to have 10,000 students connecting with nature each year in the River Center’s unique outdoor classroom!

Saturday’s family tour is one activity of many during the San Diego River Park Foundation’s annual River Days event. Other activities along the river through this weekend include gardening, clean ups, wildlife hikes and bird walks.

To view a listing of all the free River Days activities in 2024, click here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!