Back before the year 2000, a collection of more than two dozen dilapidated buildings off Rosecrans Street sat vacant, in need of renovation and a renewed purpose.
Now, 25 years later, those buildings and the land they sit on are part of a vibrant 100-acre cultural arts hub known as Arts District Liberty Station.
The Arts District, established in 2000, is a nonprofit dedicated to enriching the lives of San Diegans and visitors via various cultural activities presented by more than 100 tenants, including art studios, galleries, shops, design and dance studios, museums, and more.
“We now support artists from San Diego, Imperial County, eastern Baja (California), northern Baja and tribal communities, strengthening artistic connections across the region,” Arts District Liberty Station President/CEO Lisa Johnson told Times of San Diego.
The site’s current role is a far cry from its previous purpose: training young men and women at Naval Training Center San Diego. For more than 75 years, recruits would go through boot camp to learn the skills and traditions required to make it in the U.S. Navy as sailors.
But due to military downsizing, the training center closed incrementally beginning in 1994. In 1995, the Navy and the city of San Diego struck a deal for the municipality to lease most of the land.
The base closed for good in 1997, and gradually the Liberty Station mixed-use project was developed. Over the past two decades, 18 of 26 buildings gifted to the Arts District have been
transformed – rather than being used to train for war, they are dedicated to celebrating the arts.
“Turning former barracks buildings into art studios and converting former military classrooms into educational and training spaces for music, arts, and dance is truly a feat,” Johnson said. “There’s so much to be proud of.”
One of the newer facilities within the Arts District is the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center, known simply as The Joan. The Joan is home to the Cygnet Theatre Company, which produces a year-round season of professional off-Broadway-style theatre and educational programming.
The theater, previously based in Old Town, moved to Liberty Station in September and is currently in the midst of its first season at the new location.
“What (the Arts District) needed was a live venue to activate the campus, and we needed a new home. So, for the two organizations, it was a perfect match,” Cygnet Executive Director Bill Schmidt said.
While in Old Town, the theatre had been housed in a 7,700 square foot building with a 240-seat theater. Now at the Joan, the theater is situated in a 42,000-square -foot building with two theater spaces, one with 282 seats and another which is flexible and can accommodate up to 155 seats.
There are more benefits to being within the Arts District than just the additional space, Schmidt said.
“It’s a hub of arts activity,” he remarked. “It’s a beautiful campus, it’s well maintained, it has abundant free parking. And I think in San Diego, with all the stuff happening over at Balboa
Park, people really care about parking. Parking’s a big deal.”
But so is, as Johnson said, a vibrant cultural arts scene. She pointed out that given the expensive nature of San Diego life, “Arts District Liberty Station offers many free and low-cost options for arts, culture, and entertainment.” Doing so, she said, makes “meaningful experiences accessible for all.”
Among the tenants is the San Diego Craft Collective, which offers all-ages woodworking and craft classes. Arts District Liberty Station is the Craft Collective’s first permanent home. Before becoming a tenant, it operated in a pop-up model with limited programming.
In 2019, it established its headquarters at Liberty Station and built a full woodworking studio, a glass studio, and then a ceramics studio. Over time, the collective continued to
grow, creating an educational garden and a sewing program, expanding into a second classroom that supports weaving, sewing, macramé, knitting, crochet, culinary arts and youth education. That includes early childhood programming.
“Arts District Liberty Station offered the ideal environment for our vision to take root and grow,” Craft Collective founder and President Steffanie Dotson said.
“Being part of Arts District Liberty Station allows the Craft Collective to reach a broader audience and really flourish as a creative nonprofit in a bona fide arts district,” she added. “The support and camaraderie we receive from being part of this community are unparalleled in San Diego.”
In addition, Dotson said, the other “wonderful businesses, artists and nonprofit organizations” offer a “bustling, creative, fun, family-friendly” atmosphere.
Although the district’s 100-acre footprint can’t grow due to contractual reasons, Johnson said that the site itself remains under development.
“While our formal footprint of oversight won’t expand, we often collaborate with other ownership groups at Liberty Station to infuse the entire campus with cultural opportunities,” she explained.
Among the plans, Johnson said, is the redevelopment of buildings that haven’t already
been renovated. This work is taking place in collaboration with local developer and restaurateur Ryan Thorsen, who owns and operates Mr. A’s eatery atop the Manchester Building in Bankers Hill.
“I am thrilled to be working with someone so visionary,” Johnson said. “In addition to his creative approach, Ryan is deeply passionate about celebrating and honoring the history of the former Naval Training Center and welcoming the public.”