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Golden Hill Fountain Grotto Gets Noticed
July/August 2021
 Golden Hill Fountain Grotto new signage. Photo by SOHO staff |
 Fountain Grotto location. Courtesy Google Maps |
 Historic postcard of the Golden Hill Fountain Grotto. Courtesy eBay |
One of the earliest areas in Balboa Park to be developed, and still relatively unknown, is the Golden Hill Fountain Grotto in Golden Hill Park (see map). A sunken semi-circle with the fountain as a centerpiece, this unique park feature is identified by the red sandstone steps into the grotto, but it is hardly visible from Golden Hill Drive. Even local park lovers don't know it's there.
Fortunately, thanks to the Friends of Balboa Park and historian extraordinaire Nancy Carol Carter, this c. 1908 Arts and Crafts era fountain, designed by Henry Lord Gay, has new visibility thanks to recently added signage. And soon, a Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS) report will be online at the Library of Congress (read the report by Carter HERE. The new signage and HALS report highlight the Grotto's significance as the first decorative, built feature in Balboa Park and its creation via one of the park's earliest private-public partnerships.
Both raise public awareness among residents and visitors of this important, early Balboa Park resource and enable people everywhere to read about the grotto's historical significance. Placed on SOHO's Most Endangered List in 2009, it was removed in 2012 after being rehabilitated through community support and Boy Scout Troop 53. However, a decade later, this resource is, again, in need of preservation efforts. Hopefully, the new signage and landscape report will help in finding the needed restoration funds.
Thank you again to the Friends of Balboa Park, Nancy Carol Carter, and all the stakeholders who helped create and install the new signage, including Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, Council President Pro Tem Stephen Whitburn, the City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department, and the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation! This effort breathes new life into a long neglected public landmark.
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