Tag: construction

New park at SDSU Mission Valley turns green!

Large sections of the new river park at SDSU Mission Valley appear to be almost finished!

Not only are there wide fields of new green grass, and newly planted trees, but basketball courts have been installed, along with climbing and other exercise equipment, a big playground for the kids and restrooms.

I stepped off the trolley at the Stadium station today and walked around. The area north of the station, where people can relax on benches on their way to and from Snapdragon Stadium (or future SDSU classrooms and dorms), is now open, green and inviting. You can see how this area looked when I took photographs back in March. Click here.

The wide grassy area that is mostly south of the trolley tracks is still fenced off, but one can walk along the fence and imagine how awesome this public park will be when it finally opens.

Kicking a soccer ball, picnics, kites, playing with a Frisbee, talking with friends, reading a book, completing a class assignment, going for a sunny walk–this will be the place to go!

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The risen RaDD seen from San Diego Bay.

For well over a year, the Research and Development District (RaDD) has been rising on downtown San Diego’s waterfront. I’ve been watching the ongoing construction of this project and have posted photographs from time to time. In June I posted these.

I rode the Coronado ferry last weekend and got a good look at how San Diego’s skyline has been altered by RaDD, as seen from across the bay. (The above photo shows the long Tuna Harbor pier in the foreground.)

RaDD is a project of IQHQ. It’s described as a life science district–five new buildings occupying six city blocks–the largest urban commercial waterfront site on the West Coast. It appears to be nearing completion.

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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)!

New wood for the Botanical Building restoration!

The restoration of Balboa Park’s monumental Botanical Building is proceeding right along. New wood is being used to beautifully recreate the historic structure!

When built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, the Botanical Building was one of the largest lath structures in the world. A century later, wood rot and termite damage had taken a severe toll. This project, supported by the National Park Service, State of California, City of San Diego, and Forever Balboa Park, includes the full restoration of the building to its original 1915 design, recreating the series of arched openings with Palladian windows and large doors, opening the inside space to the surrounding gardens as intended.

It will be fascinating to watch as new lath is applied to the large, supporting steel structure, which is also being renovated one section at a time.

Here’s another web page that describes the Botanical Building restoration and additional improvements, such as the reconstruction of a pergola that once stood on the west lawn near The San Diego Museum of Art.

UPDATE!

Here’s a photo showing great progress! I took this in January, 2024…

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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)!

Our amazing Balboa Park forever in transition.

One of the most wonderful aspects of Balboa Park is its dynamism. Every day, with every walk, new discoveries come into view.

This evening, as the sun cast lengthening shadows, I wandered about photographing a park that is always in transition, forever new.

A new exhibition of Korean art is coming to the San Diego Museum of Art.

One end of the Botanical Building’s steel structure has been renovated.

New love, perhaps?

Inflating the huge screen at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion for Silent Movie Night.

What’s coming next at the Casa Del Prado Theater?

Painting patio tiles at Spanish Village Art Center.

Flowers fall away as new flowers appear..

Walking into the light through one wonderful park.

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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 Twitter!

Antique wagons beautifully restored in Escondido.

A variety of antique wagons that have survived for over a century are being restored in Escondido!

During my walk late this morning through Grape Day Park, I noticed several gentlemen hovering about the wagonworks and wheelwright shop, which is located on the Escondido History Center’s Heritage Walk. They were working with the restored undercarriage of an old delivery wagon, and painting its wagon wheels.

I was informed that, over the years, many different carts and wagons have been restored by skilled volunteers at the Bandy Blacksmith & Wheelwright Shop. Brought in from many places, these horse-drawn vehicles from the Old West have been saved from the decay caused by time and weather.

A friendly gentleman showed me photos of wagons that have been restored. He then opened the nearby Penner Barn to show me the rebuilt body of the old delivery wagon, that will be fitted with the red undercarriage and wheels.

A year ago I peered into the working blacksmith and wheelwright shop and posted that blog here.

As I regarded the interesting operations around me, a pick-up truck approached, hauling an antique spring wagon! The spring wagon will become a new outdoor exhibit, to be enjoyed by visitors exploring the Heritage Walk.

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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 Twitter!

Serpent Tree vanishes from Waterfront Park!

The Serpent Tree has vanished from Waterfront Park! The big, colorful sculpture by famous artist Niki de Saint Phalle has been put into storage, I’ve been told.

The north half of Waterfront Park is being redeveloped. A dog park, basketball and pickleball courts, and other recreational facilities will soon be built. Will the amazing Serpent Tree reappear in the park? I haven’t yet heard what its fate will be.

Today I noticed a banner on the construction fence describing the project. It shows how this part of Waterfront Park will eventually appear.

If you’d like to view photos of Serpent Tree shortly after it was installed in 2015, 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 Twitter!

Photos outside Comic-Con with 3 days to go!

Enjoy lots of photographs taken today around the San Diego Convention Center and Gaslamp Quarter. It’s Monday, three days before the official start of Comic-Con 2023!

Offsite activations are rising all over the place, new building wraps continue to appear, and there’s a definite sense of excitement and anticipation in the air!

Read the photo captions!

The Jurassic Park offsite is now setting up in East Village. I wasn’t allowed to take a photo through the front door, but it looks like this might be epic!

Abbott Elementary wraps are going up on the exterior of Petco Park.

Some shade is ready for fans waiting in line outside the San Diego Convention Center. It should be quite warm this week!

The FX offsite is now fenced with graphics promoting many shows.

Is this guy screaming in anticipation of huge crowds?

Outside the FX site during my midday Monday walk.

Peeking into the FX offsite.

The huge building wrap on the Hilton San Diego Bayfront promotes FX mini-series Shōgun.

Now walking down the bayside boardwalk toward Adult Swim on the Green.

Another Comic-Con, another ride on the Adult Swim hotdog!

The way I felt after a vigorous summer walk in the San Diego sunshine.

Now I’ve reached the Hulu Animayhem offsite. Looks like a lot of hot air.

Who are all these people just standing around?

You can get your selfie with a favorite character.

Workers are setting up the Dragon Ball offsite behind the Marriott. Looks like the layout is much like last year.

They’ve got a couple days to get ready!

The Wheel of Time building wrap on a Marriott Marquis tower looks pretty cool!

I believe Hero House will sell pop culture collectibles and cool stuff. They were setting up beside Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade.

Walking along MLK Promenade.

Looks like Camp Snoopy is getting ready! The Peanuts offsites are always fun.

Spooky black waiting area for the recently announced Interview With the Vampire activation at the Hilton Gaslamp.

A recreation of a New Orleans street will await fans of Interview With the Vampire.

Check this out! It’s the Quantum Leap activation under construction. I’ll bet fans walk in through that circular entrance…

When visitors walk through here, will they travel through spacetime?

NBC show banners at Baja Rick’s Cantina, which used to be the Tin Fish.

Watch out! Here’s Chucky!

The huge Yellowjackets wraps on the Hard Rock Hotel are finished.

Yellowjackets video wall inside the Hard Rock Hotel.

Putting up Yellowjackets banners along Fifth Avenue sidewalk.

Paramount’s offsite The Lodge is looking great.

A sneaky peek into The Lodge.

Hasbro boxes in the windows of Sparks Gallery at 530 Sixth Avenue. This will be The VAULT: A Hasbro Pulse Store!

National Geographic joins the Comic-Con fun with a big wrap on the Margaritaville Hotel. It promotes Arctic Ascent.

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

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!

Comic-Con 2023 mayhem goes into high gear!

With four days to go until Comic-Con 2023 Preview Night, preparation for a massive crowd of pop culture fans descending on downtown San Diego is now in high gear!

Many Comic-Con offsites are in the early stages of construction. More buildings wraps are appearing in the Gaslamp Quarter and by the San Diego Convention Center.

Enjoy these photos from my long, very fun walk late this Friday afternoon!

Twisted Metal banners line Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade.

A meaty wrap on one side of the Hilton Gaslamp.

The big Fox Animation Domination wrap on the Omni appears over half finished.

The stylish Interview With The Vampire graphics on the Hilton Gaslamp are among my favorites.

The following structure that has been erected in Gaslamp Square will promote NBC’s classic show Quantum Leap…

More fun FOX animation graphics on the Omni…

FX has begun building their Comic-Con offsite in their usual spot–the grass in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel.

Looks like FX will have a big stage or video screen.

I suspect the big wrap on the Hilton will promote a show on FX.

Adult Swim has returned to their usual spot behind the San Diego Convention Center after their absence last year. They were just beginning to set up their offsite on the green.

A cool new offsite by Hulu, promoting Ani-mayhem, is setting up in the parking lot behind the convention center.

I climbed the stairs behind the convention center…

Look at all the trucks behind the San Diego Convention Center. They’re here for the big Morgan Wallen concerts at nearby Petco Park.

Getting things ready under the sails of the convention center.

I got some great views from the convention center…

Back on Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp, I checked out more Amazon Prime Video wraps…

Oops! Well, maybe that’s a new superpower.

And finally a look toward the Marriott Marquis hotel, as a big ESRI building wrap comes down and one promoting Star Trek goes up!

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

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!

Old Adobe Wall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Have you seen the Old Adobe Wall inside the Del Mar Fairgrounds?

Wander through the outdoor Garden Show during the San Diego County Fair and you’re likely to stumble upon this bit of history:

In January of 1936, final approval from all department officials in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. was received for a new fairgrounds facility to be built in Del Mar… It was estimated that 500,000 hours of labor would be required for completion of the project… Each building was designed to represent one of the missions of California…

All of the buildings were made of native adobe, which was mixed and dried on the grounds. The eight-foot-high wall stretched along Jimmy Durante Boulevard, bordering the fairgrounds from the San Dieguito River on the south to Via de la Valle on the north. It was constructed of thousands of adobe bricks…A very small portion of the original wall still stands near the Exhibits offices…

This adobe brick is one of the original bricks made here on the Del Mar Fairgrounds in 1936 using local clay and straw…

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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 Twitter!

The rise of RaDD on San Diego’s waterfront.

The five buildings of RaDD (Research And Development District) have risen on San Diego’s waterfront. I walked along the Embarcadero yesterday and could now visualize how our city’s skyline will appear once these buildings are completed.

I photographed this project of IQHQ about a year ago when the construction was in a much earlier stage. See those photos here.

RaDD will include retail and office space, dining, green space, destination event space, public art, and, most importantly, research facilities that focus on biotech and life sciences.

I see new walkways are being created so that pedestrians may safely cross Harbor Drive. Crosswalks will connect the 10 acre development to the Embarcadero’s bayside boardwalk.

During my walk I also noted that Manchester Financial Group’s One Broadway Hotel and Plaza project, which will occupy property between RaDD and Broadway, is now in the early stages of construction. You can get a glimpse of that in my final photograph.

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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 Twitter!