|
NAVWAR Proposes Walling Off Old Town with 32-Story High-Rises
July/August 2021
 This view of the NAVWAR proposal shows the project looming over Old Town with increasing height and density for non-Navy residential, retail, commercial, and hotel towers. Courtesy NAVWAR
San Diegans are justifiably alarmed by the Navy's staggeringly tall and dense proposal for the innocuously named Old Town Campus Revitalization Project. The aggressive, mixed-use development raises serious environmental and preservation issues, and would essentially create a second downtown of high-rises within Old Town and below Mission Hills.
The Navy presented five alternatives for the roughly 70.5-acre site that runs along a mile of Interstate 5 and on both sides of Pacific Highway. SOHO objects to severe impacts to nationally valuable, irreplaceable historic resources.
Find the NAVWAR Old Town proposal HERE.
The public comment period ends July 13. It is especially important to register your views because the California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to federal entities. Find the link to comment at the end of this email.
SOHO does not support any of the five alternatives. All would detrimentally impact Old Town, the National Historic Landmark Presidio Park, and historic viewscapes now providing context for the city's founding and early development including the historic views of San Diego Bay from the Presidio. Today's sweeping panorama of Point Loma, Ballast Point and its Fort Guijarros, and the original Spanish landing site, el desembarcadero would be blocked, making it impossible to understand the early settlement of San Diego and to interpret these important landmarks by sight.
This public view from Presidio Park is one of three of San Diego's most outstanding viewsheds and is renowned and loved by visitors and residents alike.
Number 4, the Navy's preferred alternative, calls for building another dense downtown with a 32- story, mile-long wall of skyscrapers. Alternatives 2 through 5 will drastically change San Diego's character and sense of place, especially visually and spatially.
None of the plans retain the National Register-eligible Consolidated Aircraft Plant 2 Historic District, or, as most San Diegans call it, Convair. This district is important for both WWII and the Cold War operations, illustrating San Diego's nationally and internationally significant role in the aerospace industry.
However, if Alternative 1 were modified to retain and adaptively reuse at least one of the historic district aircraft hangers, SOHO might support this option.
Nor does the massive development propose any affordable housing within anticipated residential towers.
The plans also threaten Old Town's vibrant cultural heritage tourism, an essential regional economic engine and place of pride. This project would thrust the entire area in the shadow of a high-rise canyon.
Act now! Submit comments to the Navy before the July 13 deadline HERE.
And please support SOHO's efforts by donating to our advocacy fund HERE.
There is power in numbers, so if you are not already a SOHO member, now would be a great time to join.
|
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
|
