Starlight Bowl sign and the season that never came.
On the south side of Balboa Park, at the edge of a canyon next to the San Diego Air and Space Museum, you’ll find this rusting sign. It remains hopeful above the shuttered ticket windows of the Starlight Bowl, once home to the San Diego Civic Light Opera. The sign announces a 65th season that never came.
A couple years ago the San Diego Civic Light Opera went bankrupt. Which is a shame. For a long happy time during the warm summer months the outdoor theatre featured musicals and other popular productions. I remember watching the Pirates of Penzance and the Taming of the Shrew here when I was very young. The coolest thing I remember was how the actors would all freeze and shows would be suspended for several seconds when noisy, low-flying airplanes approaching Lindbergh field passed directly overhead.
Display glass near entrance which used to show upcoming productions is vacant.The outdoor Starlight Bowl has an audience of weeds.
I walked around to one side for a view of the beloved Starlight Bowl and held my camera above a chain link fence for the above photo. The outdoor stage now has an audience of weeds.
Side view of the Starlight Bowl, which has been sadly abandoned for years now.
North part of the Horton Plaza Park construction site behind fence.
A large area between Broadway and the Horton Plaza shopping mall is fenced off for construction. One end of the downtown mall has already been demolished and leveled to the bare ground. The long-neglected Horton Plaza Park is being enlarged!
On the fence surrounding the construction site are a number of interesting old photographs showing the park’s history.
When real estate developer Alonzo Horton built the Horton House hotel (now the U.S. Grant Hotel) in his “New Town” in 1870, he included a small plaza on the hotel grounds. In 1895 he sold the half block plaza to the growing city of San Diego, stating his objective was “to provide a central, commodious and attractive place for public meetings, public announcements, public recreation and for any other proper public purposes, a place where all public questions might be discussed with comfort, where public open-air concerts might be given, where the people might rest, and where children might play in safety.” In 1909 the first fountain in the United States to feature electric lights was installed in the park.
Over the years, the small park has seen a whole lot of history, as the following photographs at today’s construction site demonstrate. Horton Plaza Park was designated a historical landmark by the City of San Diego in 1971.
Horton Plaza Park during 1935 California Pacific International Exposition.Horton Plaza Park crowded for V-J Day celebration.
The streets were crowded with a spontaneous celebration when World War II finally ended.
Thousands attend rally for John F. Kennedy in Horton Plaza Park.
On November 2, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy spoke at Horton Plaza Park, seeking votes in the upcoming presidential election. A huge crowd turned out.
Sign shows how the new Horton Plaza Park will look at completion.
The beautifully renovated park will include lots of space for public events, including outdoor concerts!
A huge area has been cleared to make way for the new park.
Here’s a pic I took on January 31, 2015…
Construction of the new Horton Plaza Park is well underway in early 2015.
The diners at this downtown San Diego brewery and restaurant must suffer a good deal of bladder discomfort. Because according to this sign in their window, no urinating is allowed! Don’t guzzle too much of that tasty handcrafted brew!
Beer fermentation tanks in a downtown San Diego window.
While walking through Mission Valley in the early morning, I did a double take when I saw this unusual sight! I assume the motel is undergoing a name change. Or perhaps the driver hauling the Super 8 sign stayed a night at Quality Inn!
Another interesting photograph taken during a walk. The sign on the north side of this old building is extremely faded. It informs the observer of an earlier time. Years ago this location was San Diego’s In Spot!
The nine story building stands right next to San Diego’s City Hall and is sadly abandoned. It has been that way since 1990. In 1927 this was the center of an historic grand opening. The California Theater, which was a movie palace, was so elegant and elaborate that it came to be called the “cathedral” of the motion picture.
The now dilapidated old building also has a large weathered advertisement for Tijuana’s Agua Caliente race track painted in the 1960s on its west side. I took photos of that here.
California Theatre marquee used to be seen on this old, abandoned building.The cool marquee that simply read California is long gone.
UPDATE!
I took a closer, better photo on a much later date…
…
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!
Should you ever walk through Civic Center Plaza, you’ll probably see this unusual group of signs. These are a few of San Diego’s sister cities. Pointing in almost every direction, the signs indicate distances in miles and kilometers.
Another similar group of fun signs can be found directly across the plaza.
San Diego’s 16 sister cities are:
Alcala de Henares, Spain
Campinas, Brazil
Cavite, Philippines
Edinburgh, Scotland
Jalalabad, Afghanistan
Jeonju, South Korea
Leon, Mexico
Perth, Australia
Quanzhou, China
Taichung City, Taiwan
Tema, Ghana
Tijuana, Mexico
Vladivostok, Russia
Warsaw, Poland
Yantai, China
Yokohama, Japan
UPDATE! I walked through Civic Center Plaza about half a year later and I noticed brand new signs!
I saw this funny sight and had to take a photo. It’s a sign in the form of a pig.
Phil’s BBQ serves barbeque in the Park at the Park during Padres home games. Seems they were winners this year of the Stadium Food King Challenge, a tastiest food contest put on by USA Today. Phil’s tri-tip sandwich beat out the Diamondbacks Sororan Dog, the Brewers pulled pork parfait, and the Royals Cheesy Brisket-acho for top honors.
Here’s a pic I took another day…
Giant pig with Padres logo and baseball cap seems trapped behind bars at Petco Park!
One of downtown San Diego’s historic buildings, which is now abandoned and used to be home of the California Theatre, features a large, eye-catching Caliente ad on its west exterior wall. The faded yellow sign dates from the 1960’s. Take a look!
The Agua Caliente Racetrack, not far from San Diego in Tijuana, Mexico, today features greyhound racing. It opened in 1929 as a horse racing venue where big Hollywood celebrities were often sighted. Its popularity was largely due to prohibition and the fact that both drinking and gambling were illegal in many nearby American states.
Large Caliente racetrack sign on old abandoned building.
The Gaslamp Quarter is not only the Historic Heart of San Diego, as the iconic sign proclaims, but it has become the center of entertainment and dining for downtown’s burgeoning nightlife. The popular Hard Rock Hotel, seen in this photograph, is but one of scores of cool attractions lining bustling Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Avenues between Broadway and Harbor Drive. Pouring even more life into the Gaslamp is nearby Petco Park, the San Diego Convention Center and Horton Plaza.
This area of town, a few decades ago, had become the home to vacant old buildings, half-deserted warehouses and seedy bars attracting lonely sailors homeported in San Diego. Many say the catalyst for its modern transformation was the establishment of Croce’s restaurant and jazz bar on Fifth Avenue in 1985. The popular Croce’s was created as a tribute to legendary singer Jim Croce by his surviving wife Ingrid. As of 2014, Croce’s has moved to a different location on Bankers Hill.
Just a typical view of city life in the always lively Gaslamp Quarter.
Fun, elaborate architecture can be seen all over the historic neighborhood.
People dine at a restaurant in the heart of the Gaslamp district.
Bar patrons watch a soccer game in style.
People stop to enjoy a treat at Ghirardelli’s.
Colorful stuff for sale in a touristy store window.
Plaque tells a bit about the Louis Bank of Commerce Building.
The legendary Louis Bank of Commerce Building attracts much attention!
San Diego’s first granite building shows Baroque style architecture.
The two photos above show the Louis Bank of Commerce Building. In the late 1800’s it became home to the Oyster Bar, one of four saloons and gambling halls operated by Wyatt Earp when he lived in San Diego.
Canopy reads: Wyatt Earp’s Historic Gambling Hall and Saloon.
Nesmith-Greely Building was built in the Romanesque Revival style.
Greely Building contained office of the first woman attorney in California Bar Association.
Elegant doorway of the 1888 building.
I.O.O.F. Building’s cornerstone contains a stone from Solomon’s Temple!
The 1882 Independent Order of Odd Fellows building.
Closer view of the Classical Revival style I.O.O.F. building in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.
San Diego’s historic Old City Hall is an 1874 Florentine Italianate building.
Two floors were added to Old City Hall to accommodate San Diego Public Library in 1887.
The delightful entrance to Old City Hall.
The Yuma Building was one of downtown’s first brick structures.
The distinctive Yuma Building also dates from 1882.
Looking down Fifth Avenue one early weekday morning.
Grand Pacific Hotel was built in 1887 at this location.
The distinctive old Victorian Grand Pacific Hotel in San Diego’s fantastic Gaslamp.
Worker scrapes old paint as the years roll on.
Old Town Trolley Tours bus exits the popular Gaslamp Quarter.
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