The shapely, elegant beauty of Balboa Park’s Botanical Building is returning!
San Diego’s iconic wood and steel structure, which was badly in need of repair, is in the process of being rebuilt.
I took these photographs today. Compare them to photos I took months ago. You can view those here.
New wood lath now forms the airy roof of one wing. When it was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, Balboa Park’s amazing Botanical Building was one of the largest lath structures in the world!
I can’t wait to see it finished!
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New public art has appeared at the RaDD (Research and Development District) complex that now rises on San Diego’s waterfront!
Sculptures and murals can be viewed by those walking along the Embarcadero among the five gleaming RaDD buildings where some construction fences have recently come down.
I was able to photograph the above sculpture and a long mural today during my walk near the USS Midway, the Greatest Generation Walk and Ruocco Park. I also spotted a water feature among plants and trees between the two southernmost buildings.
Another large red sculpture and another mural have also appeared among the buildings to the north, but construction fences still obstruct photography. I’ll try to provide more photos when those fences are removed.
I know nothing about the artists. If you have any interesting information, please leave a comment. If I learn anything further about this new public art in San Diego, I’ll post an update!
(Last November, I spotted a new mural at the north end of RaDD. See those photos 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)!
Gallagher Square at Petco Park is being greatly improved. Construction is now underway outside the Padres’ home ballpark in East Village, and I was able to take photographs that include a bird’s-eye view of the activity!
A sign on the fence surrounding the construction site indicates the new Gallagher Square will include an expanded playground and play area, an off-leash dog park, an improved Play Ball Field for kids, a new Tony Gwynn Terrace viewing deck and picnic space, plus state of the art technology and sound mitigation. The latter might be helpful during future concerts here.
I remember when this innovative outdoor area beyond Petco Park’s outfield was called Park at the Park. Several changes have occurred since then! I believe the Tony Gwynn statue will be moved onto the viewing deck that will bear his name.
A special thank you to Chris, super cool bartender at Fairweather Rooftop Bar and Grill, whose outdoor patio overlooks Gallagher Square. What a perfect place to sit, drink and dine, while watching a live concert, or taking in the ambience of a baseball game . . . or viewing the progress of this project!
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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)!
UC San Diego, growing by leaps and bounds, has a surprising number of construction projects now underway. People traveling near the campus this past year have probably seen multiple cranes rising into the sky.
One of UCSD’s big projects is called the Pepper Canyon West Living and Learning Neighborhood. When finished in Fall 2024, it will provide housing for 1,300 students. Accommodating a large number of students requires some large buildings!
It’s astonishing to me how quickly the buildings have risen!
I took these photos recently, while walking through a beautiful university that I attended long, long ago. In the 1980’s UCSD was considerably smaller!
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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)!
The massive Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center now under construction in Chula Vista is looking very impressive. I walked past the project site last December and saw nothing but mounds of dirt and several large cranes. Look at how the main hotel building has risen since then!
When completed, the hotel will have 1,600 guest rooms and suites, as well as more than 477,000 square feet of function and convention space. Upper floors of the hotel will offer views of the Pacific Ocean across San Diego Bay and the Silver Strand.
I took these photos on a sunny South Bay morning, just before my visit to the Boston Tea Party anniversary event near the Chula Vista Marina. My first (and most picturesque) photograph is from the Bayside Park fishing pier.
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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)!
History is being made in Mission Valley. Two massive projects are being developed along the San Diego River: SDSU Mission Valley and Riverwalk San Diego.
The river park at SDSU Mission Valley is mostly complete, and large areas are now accessible to the public during its soft opening.
I walked around the river park the other day and found a number of fascinating information signs. One shows birds that might be found along the San Diego River. Another concerns stormwater management and the creation of bioretention basins. The largest such basin is located near the Stadium trolley station.
The signs that interested me most concern the history of Mission Valley and the San Diego River.
I took photos of several signs, which you can enlarge for easier reading…
The Native American Kumeyaay historically used plants along the river for food, tools and construction materials. They sustainably managed the land. Before World War II and the subsequent boom in urban development, Mission Valley was largely farmland. At one point there were 20 dairy farms in Mission Valley. Several Japanese American families operated vegetable farms.Early 1900s postcards of Mission Valley show large areas of green farmland on either side of the San Diego River.New plants for the new river park at SDSU Mission Valley.The San Diego River begins in the Cuyamaca Mountains and flows west to the Pacific Ocean. It is the source of important biodiversity. In 1971, plans to replace the sometimes flooding river with a concrete channel were thwarted by intense public opposition. The vision of a more natural San Diego River, with innovative safeguards against flooding, would eventually prevail.Photo of damaging flooding in Mission Valley circa 1980, before the adoption in 1982 of FSDRIP–the First San Diego River Improvement Project.The Kumeyaay were the first people to live in this region. This sign explains they understood the importance of caring for the land, water, flora and fauna that are all a part of this intricate ecological system that relates and sustains all life in balance and harmony. A map of Kumeyaay territory includes San Diego County and the northern portion of Baja California.A field without farms–playing soccer near Snapdragon Stadium at SDSU Mission Valley.
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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)!
Have you seen the towering construction crane in downtown San Diego that’s lit up at night for Christmas? It’s hard to miss!
I tried to take good photos early this morning.
The festive holiday crane is bright green, red and several other colors.
It’s one special crane that will lift heavy steel beams and your spirit!
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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)!
A construction fence now surrounds much of the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. I noticed a banner on the fence today. It states: NATURE GARDEN BLOOMING TO LIFE IN SUMMER 2024.
Pocket gardens and interpretive trails will be created around the museum, and include displays of native plants that should attract wildlife like butterflies and hummingbirds.
Anyone visiting Balboa Park will be able to freely enjoy these new outdoor garden areas. The completed project will be a cornerstone of the Natural History Museum’s 150th anniversary celebration.
I’m eager to see this new landscape take shape. I’ll probably take photos of the project’s progress in the months ahead, so stay tuned!
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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)!
Children’s Park in downtown San Diego will celebrate its Grand Re-opening early next week, on November 14th at 9 am. Finally!
The major redesign of the park is going to make this space much more fun and community friendly. A huge playground is perhaps the upgraded park’s centerpiece, but there will also be exercise equipment, a leash-free dog area complete with obstacle course, and, eventually, an open concession shack offering food and refreshments.
As you can see in these photographs, which I took this morning, the familiar pool near Harbor Drive still features sprinkling fountains that attract seagulls and the eyes of convention-goers and passing trolleys.
The last time I took photos of Children’s Park the renovation had just begun. This blog post from May 2022 provides more information concerning this project.
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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)!
Visitors to the San Diego Air & Space Museum’s Gillespie Field Annex in El Cajon yesterday were in for an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind treat!
An amazing, full-size replica of the Wright Flyer, invented and flown by Orville And Wilbur Wright in 1903, was on view as it is being restored. The famous Wright Flyer, (also known as the Kitty Hawk, Flyer I, or the 1903 Flyer) was the world’s first successfully powered and controlled aircraft.
The careful restoration has been ongoing inside one of the hangars at the Gillespie Field Annex. Right now the aircraft’s fragile wooden framework is laid bare, as the outer fabric has yet to be replaced.
A sign by the aircraft details its history, dimensions and construction. This particular Wright Flyer reproduction was obtained from Valentine Aero in 1979. When various repairs are completed, it will be proudly displayed at the Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park.
To read the sign, enlarge my photograph.
I took these photos of the Wright Flyer replica during my visit to Aerofest yesterday. The annual event allowed visitors to peer into this hangar, plus purchase all sorts of aviation collectibles in support of the museum.
I first visited the Gillespie Field Annex in early 2019 and blogged about what I saw. See that post here. (Please note that entry is no longer free–it’s $7, but well worth it!)
The first powered, controlled, sustained airplane flight in history. Orville Wright, age 32, is at the controls of the machine, lying prone on the lower wing with hips in the cradle which operated the wing-warping mechanism. His brother, Wilbur Wright, age 36, ran alongside to help balance the machine, having just released his hold on the forward upright of the right wing. The starting rail, the wing-rest, a coil box, and other items needed for flight preparation are visible behind the machine. Public domain image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
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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)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 