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Renting an Apartment in Balboa Park
What You Should Know
Balboa Park is a 1,200 acres (4.9 km�) urban cultural park in San Diego,
California. Unlike some city parks, such as New York's Central Park, which is
mostly free of buildings in favor of open space and recreational fields, Balboa
Park is a cultural complex. Besides open areas and natural vegetation, it
contains a variety of cultural attractions including museums, theaters, gardens,
shops and restaurants as well as the world-renowned San Diego Zoo.
Many of the park's attractions are along El Prado, a long, wide promenade
running through the center of the park. Most of the buildings lining this street
are in the Spanish Revival style, a richly ornamented eclectic mixture of
Spanish and Latin American architecture. Along this boulevard are many of the
park's museums, including the Museum of Man, the San Diego Museum of Art, the
Museum of Photographic Arts, the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and Museum of
Fine Art.
Other attractions include the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, which includes the
world's largest outdoor pipe organ; The Old Globe Theatre, a replica of
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre; a collection of "international cottages"; and the
Botanical Building with its accompanying reflecting pool. The Footlocker Cross
Country Championship race is ran at Balboa park in December, AJ Acosta and
Jordan Hasay were the 2005 winners.
The park is managed and maintained by the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation
Department.
Balboa Park has been declared a National Historic Landmark.
Among the private institutions within the park's borders not administered by the
city's parks department are San Diego High School, a naval hospital and the San
Diego Zoo.
More About Balboa Park
History
A resolution to set aside 1400 acres (6 km�) for a city park was approved by the
city's Board of Trustees on May 26, 1868. The resolution had been put forth by
one of the trustees, E. W. Morse, who along with real estate developer Alonzo
Horton had selected a site just northeast of the growing urban center of "New
Town" (now downtown San Diego) for the park's location. However the park is
truly a manifest of a long chain of events, starting back as far as 1835 when
the newest breed of San Diego city officials from the Mexican government took
hold of office. One of the first things the city officials did was select a
tract of land to be used for recreational purposes, making the section of land
within the 47,000 acres that is now Balboa Park one of the oldest sites in the
United States dedicated to public recreational usage.
The land went unchanged and without expansion for a decade until 1845 when a
survey was done to map the 47,000 acres. This survey was done by a Henry D.
Fitch. The Mexican government would never get to use this land for anything due
to the Mexican War, and in 1848 the park became property of the United States of
America. In 1850 it became part of California with the creation of the state. On
February 15, 1868 the request was made to the trustees to take two one hundred
and sixty acre plots of land, and make them into a public park. This request had
of course been made by Ephraim Morse.
In 1870, a new law was passed, an "act to insure the permanency of the park
reservation." The bill stated that "these lands (lots by number) are to be held
in trust forever by the municipal authorities of said city for the purpose of a
park" (Christman 14). It was around this time that San Diego residents were
acquiring a certain fondness for the park; this is illustrated by their strong
desire to keep the park intact when in 1871, there was a documented conspiracy
to disassemble and "grab" the park land (Christman 15). This conspiracy,
political in nature, attempted to create a bill and speed it through the state
legislature before anybody could do anything to stop it. The thwarting of this
attempt was due largely in part to a San Diego resident who had somehow learnt
of this plan. He immediately informed higher powers in Sacramento where the
entire ordeal was leaked to the press to provide publicity to demonize the
malevolent plan and the city officials involved. Immediately, other San Diegan
officials got together and collected signatures supporting the current existence
of the park. Their plea was successful.
City Park: 1868-1909
For the first few decades of its existence, "City Park" remained mostly open
space. Numerous proposals, some altruistic, some profit-driven, were brought
forward for the development and use of the land during this time, but no
comprehensive plan for development was adopted.
Nevertheless, there was some building done. This included an orphanage and
women's shelter (later burned down), a high school (San Diego High School) and
several gardens maintained by various private groups. One of the most celebrated
of these early usages was a nursery owned and maintained by local horticulturist
and botanist Kate Sessions, who is often referred to as "the mother of Balboa
Park." Although owned by Sessions, by agreement with the city the nursery was
open to the public, and Sessions donated trees and plants to the city every year
for its beautification. Sessions is responsible for bringing in many of the
different varieties of exotic plants in the park. Her work was so progressive
that she was in fact the first woman awarded the Meyer Medal for "foreign plant
importation" given to her by the American Genetic Association.
Other developments from this time include two reservoirs, an animal pound and a
gunpowder magazine in the area now known as Florida Canyon. The earliest
recreational developments in the park were in the "Golden Hill Park" area off
25th street. The National Register listed rustic stone fountain designed by
architect Henry Lord Gay is the oldest surviving designed feature in the park.
Other attractions in the area included a children's park (probably the first in
San Diego), walking trails, and a redwood bird aviary.
The Panama-California Exposition: 1910-1916
Much of the park's look and feel today is due to the development done for the
1915 Panama-California Exposition. The Exposition was to celebrate the
completion of the Panama Canal, set to open in 1915, and to tout San Diego as
the first U.S. port of call for vessels traveling north after passing through
the canal. Planning began in 1909 and City Park was soon selected as the
exposition site. The name Balboa Park was adopted in 1910. Groundbreaking began
in 1911.
Colonol D.C Collier, at the time often referred to as San Diego's greatest
asset, was the one most responsible for the exposition's success. It was he who
chose the location of city park, and it was he who chose the architecture. It
was also Collier who was given the responsibility to "steer" the exposition in
the best direction, thus he made everything under his command subject to his
philosophy of how the exposition should be. This of course, became the
exposition's philosophy as well. Collier once stated "The purpose of the
Panama-California Exposition is to illustrate the progress and possibility of
the human race, not for the exposition only, but for a permanent contribution to
the world's progress" (Christman 43). He is also responsible for much of the
flashiest military presence in San Diego such as the development of San Diego as
a Navy town by developing harbors and piers. He also contributed by founding
"aero clubs" and schools for flight training. Many parks throughout San Diego
today were created by Collier as well. The area selected for the exposition was
level ground. This ensured that if the city were ever to expand what was being
built in the exposition, it could do so easily.
It was decided that the buildings were to be done in Spanish Mission and Indian
Pueblo styles. This was pure romanticism, as the architecture employed at the
Exposition was never common in San Diego before. New York architect Bertram
Goodhue was chosen as supervisory architect (replacing Irving Gill). Goodhue was
fascinated by Spanish Colonial architecture, and took the exposition as an
opportunity to create a fantasy city, richly ornamented with influences from
throughout Spanish history with Muslim and Persian influences. This was a
contrast with most previous expositions, which had been done in Neoclassical
style.
On December 31, 1914 The Panama-California Exposition opened. Balboa Park was
crammed full of spectators. All of the guards, workers, and supervisors were
dressed in Spanish and Mexican military uniforms, and the entire park was filled
with different and foreign plants. Yellow and red were the themed colors of the
event and they were everywhere. Over 40,000 poinsettia flowers were used, all of
them in full bloom. The event seemed successful in attracting national
attention. Even Pennsylvania's Liberty Bell made a brief three-day appearance.
The attempt to put San Diego on the map had worked. The event was a success:
over the next three days over 3,000,000 visitors would attend, and witness the
hard-sought magnificence that was Balboa Park.
Some of the buildings built for the exposition still standing include:
* Administration Building (completed March 1912) (now holds offices of the
Museum of Man)
* Botanical Building
* California State Building and Quadrangle (completed October 2, 1914) (now part
of the Museum of Man)
* Cabrillo Bridge (completed April 12, 1914)
* Spreckels Organ Pavilion (dedicated December 31, 1914)
* California Bell Tower (completed 1914)