The once ambitious Plaza de Panama project in Balboa Park may be dead for the foreseeable future, but its demise could still mean improvements at the park called the Jewel of San Diego.
The project was ambitious and controversial because it would have cost a lot more money than first estimated and it would have made drastic changes to the look of the iconic entrance to Balboa Park from the Laurel Street bridge.
But with plans for Plaza de Panama being dropped by backers who couldn’t get the political support they needed and without all the debate over the future of Balboa Park that it generated, City Councilman Chris Ward, who didn’t like the Plaza de Panama idea, might never have launched his new effort.
The councilman wants to spend 9.5 million dollars in budgeted capital improvement funds on badly needed projects in Balboa Park. While close to 10-million dollars may sound like a lot, it’s not when you look at city’s list of tens of millions of dollars in needed but unfunded improvements.
Having spent time with family on Mother’s Day in Balboa Park, it’s not hard to see where improvements need to be made.
And that 9.5 million dollars can help with one of the things in Balboa Park that everybody wants and needs.
Better bathrooms.As the chair of the Balboa Park Conservancy puts it: “The restoration of public restrooms, especially in the Palisades, is essential to improving the overall visitor experience that this park relies on.”
And she’s right.With as much as Balboa Park means to attracting visitors and tourism dollars to San Diego, you might say fixing the public restroom problem in Balboa Park can’t wait.
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(Photo credit C.E. Albert)