San Diego takes ‘big, monumental step’ for future of Balboa Park, launching first new update to master plan in almost 40 years

The last time the city updated the Balboa Park Master Plan, President Bush was in charge — the first one — Apple still called its computers Macintoshes and Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul ruled the pop charts.

It was 1989 when the city adopted the most recent Balboa Park Master Plan. While some specific parts of the park have had focused amendments, a new plan in the works will be the first comprehensive look at the entire park in almost four decades — and city residents will play a big part. 

For the overdue update, the city launched a community survey and new website Wednesday, seeking public input on the future of Balboa Park. 

It’s the first of many surveys and opportunities for community engagement that the city plans to embark upon while developing a new master plan. The plan will guide the future of San Diego’s crown jewel for the next 30 years, touching on all aspects, including new recreation and facilities, transportation and accessibility, historic preservation and environmental protection, but perhaps most importantly, revenue generation and financial stability.

“We want to hear from the entire community, the entire region. Balboa Park is a regional park,” said Casey Smith, chief housing and community development officer. “We want to hear from everybody.”

“This is a big, monumental step for Balboa Park,” said Andy Field, director of the Parks and Recreation Department. 

The city council expects to adopt the plan in 2028. SANDAG, the Prebys Foundation and Caltrans are funding the nearly $2 million plan effort through grants. It is being executed by city staff and outside contractor WRT Planning + Design. 

As much as officials want to hear from the community, though, the cash-strapped city not only needs to identify new revenue streams for Balboa Park, but also shape a plan that makes it easier to secure additional outside financial support. 

“Having that master plan in place, identifying infrastructure priorities, gives the city the ability to seek out public-private partnerships, to seek out grant funding, to be able to get something funded,” explained Heidi Vonblum, director of the City Planning Department. “When we don’t have an updated master plan, it’s a little bit more chaotic to be able to seek funding and know that we’re seeking funding for things that will best serve the community.” 

Moving Balboa Park to financial stability is one of the main concerns for city officials. An August report found that as attractive as Balboa Park is, it has many cracks beneath the surface, totaling $1 billion in deferred maintenance. That has left park leaders only able to fix the most urgent needs while trying to prevent future issues.

“If the funding doesn’t exist, then we’re not able to go in and start working on the deficit of the infrastructure needs,” said Jon Richards, a deputy director in the parks department in charge of Balboa Park. 

But recent revenue-raising efforts proved wildly unpopular with the public. Paid parking for residents goes away in January after widespread outcry. 

Panama 66 and other restaurants in the park are beloved institutions, generating sales tax, but nowhere near the revenue needed to begin chipping away at the massive maintenance backlog. 

Could the city have a new revenue stream in place before the scheduled adoption of the new master plan in two years? For instance, ahead of the 1989 Master Plan, the city raised its Transit Occupancy Tax (TOT) from 7 to 8%. 

“There’s a variety of ways that we can plan for increased revenue generation, so that we can ensure that this park can be lovingly maintained and cared for for the future,” Vonblum said. 

At the dedication of a restored pergola near the Botanical Garden Building in April, Mayor Todd Gloria discussed the financial pressures the park faces. He noted that since funding for Balboa Park maintenance and operating costs come from the general fund, that means the park must be weighed against other pressing needs during every annual round of budget talks. 

“(Balboa Park) should not have to compete with our police officers and firefighters. It can sustain itself,” Gloria said at the time, when the city was still defending the much-reviled parking fee as the first dedicated stream of revenue for the park. 

Since then, the city has taken on even more Balboa Park costs, after parting ways with Save Starlight, the nonprofit attempting to revive the shuttered Starlight Bowl, adjacent to the San Diego Air and Space Museum. Now the city must take on security and repair costs at the venue. 

The behind-the-scenes negotiation between the city and nonprofits about park management, like the wear and tear on the property, might not be obvious to casual observers. Another shift involves Forever Balboa Park, which changed its name to Balboa Park Conservancy. Visitors might miss it, but those issues are top of mind for those most committed to stewardship of the 1,200-acre park. 

“You’ll find that Balboa Park stakeholders who operate within the park are very much focused on the financial sustainability of the park and the revenue generation and the governance structure because, obviously, they’re impacted by it day to day,” said Emily Piatanesi, a senior policy adviser in the mayor’s office. “They see the infrastructure needs.” 

But the new plan is about more than stakeholders. It includes the public too and the public cares about more than maintenance and governance.

Residents also are intrigued by big ideas, as seen in the aging master plan, which offers a glimpse of the community’s values back in 1989 –  and of what might have been. 

Ideas were proposed, then studied before being discarded. For instance, planners looked at whether equestrian horse trails could be added to the park, but ultimately decided the proposal wasn’t feasible due to the required length of the trails. 

Some strategies were implemented, like the reclamation of the Pan American Plaza and Plaza de Panama. Today, these are pedestrian-only spaces at the heart of the park, rather than parking lots. 

Other ideas that fell by the wayside include a trolley connection to the park, pedestrian and bike bridge along 8th Avenue and a parking garage beneath the Organ Pavilion so that more surface-level parking lots could be transformed into green space or gathering spots. 

Those ideas will be revisited for the updated plan, provided they align with modern needs. 

The plan is also not the only thing that could lead to changes at the park. Museums and other institutions have major remodels in the works that often include some sort of capital improvement in the park.

The San Diego Museum of Art, for example, wants to rebuild its west wing with a design from internationally-renowned architect Sir Norman Foster. SDMA also wants to redevelop the Plaza de Panama outside its front doors into a comfortable gathering spot where people stop to linger, rather than a place they rush across to find shade. 

But the central mesa isn’t the only place that could be redeveloped. 

Field, the parks director, noted that as much as Balboa Park is a regional park, it also serves as the local park for some of the fastest-growing communities in San Diego. Morley Field, for example, is really a North Park neighborhood park despite being part of Balboa Park. Golden Hill Park, also part of the wider park, primarily serves the needs of the Golden Hill neighborhood. 

Bankers Hill and Hillcrest, which like Golden Hill and North Park border the park, each only have one small park. Normal Street Promenade in Hillcrest will not even fully open until next year. 

Along with downtown and other Uptown neighborhoods, the edges of Balboa Park that border those neighborhoods could be redeveloped to suit community needs. Now is the time for those residents to weigh in on what that looks like. 

“The west side of Balboa Park is an area that currently has none of those kinds of facilities—no athletic fields, no big recreation center,” Field said. “So it’ll be very interesting to see what the community today is looking for, especially as we’ve seen such changes as, for example, the Uptown community has seen extensive residential development.” 

Future surveys will also target specific demographics, like seniors and families with children, who are the primary users of parks. In addition, the city’s outreach will look beyond those who go to Balboa Park often, asking people in the region who don’t visit what could inspire them to do so.

The process is a chance for big ideas, although, like in 1989, not all of them will be implemented. Again, it comes back to money. 

“When will it happen? It’s all dependent on funding,” Vonblum said.