The San Diego Sun’s recent feature story about an attempt to revitalize the Civic Center Plaza drew thoughtful responses from readers. Two of those emails to the editor are printed below.
The original story was headlined “Plaza Central Slowly Getting Off The Ground At Civic Center Plaza” (click the link to see the piece). The Plaza Central experiment is part of a much bigger civic plan that calls for redeveloping the buildings and area around City Hall.
[Editor’s note: The Sun welcomes and encourages letters sent in response to recently published stories about downtown San Diego. In both cases below, the writers were verified by The Sun and the letters were allowed to run anonymously. Letters have been lightly edited for length and clarity.]
Opera Fan Requests Clean-Up Overture
“Good to see your article about some activation of the Civic Center Plaza. Recently, I walked to the Civic Center to go to the Opera. First Avenue at B Street is disgusting. How hard is it for the city to just clean up around the complex? There were so many men hanging out amidst the trash that I wasn’t sure where to walk. It did not look safe for a single woman to walk on First Avenue on a Sunday afternoon. How can we pressure the city to clean up the whole area around the Civic Center? I am surprised so many people still show up for theatre events when the whole area is so poorly maintained.” –Anonymous, downtown resident
Not Sure Plaza Central Has Staying Power
“The article on Plaza Central was interesting. I worked for the City of San Diego for 41 years near City Hall. The demise of the Concourse Plaza area can mainly be blamed on San Diego politicians and their decisions.
“The Convention Center used to oversee the Concourse and then they pulled on in 2005, leaving the city to struggle with taking over the management of the plaza and Golden Hall. But for years, I recall the plaza being used for noontime events — cultural presentations (dancers, singer), opera presentations, bands, etc. We’d all take our lunch outside and hang out and watch whatever was going on. There were also a lot of politics — speeches, press conferences, rallies. One year, Ronald Reagan came there! But those events dwindled under city management of the plaza. Most of the focus was on the indoor event space.
“The city decided to take over part of the event space for office space, mainly the print shop. This left the Concourse at a disadvantage as they could no longer get any larger shows, as they lost the Plaza Hall space for events. But the city managed to keep the event space operators and they did a good job of keeping the small events coming — the Reptile Show, cheer competitions, private events, etc…My co-workers and I would check out the offerings and buy food.
“Then came COVID and everything stopped. Everything in the plaza ended. Remote work became possible. Golden Hall was used as a homeless shelter. The theater managed to get the city to remove the benches in the plaza, which were just being taken over by homeless. So now there’s no real place to sit. Also, the coffee cart is gone, so no reason to go out there, even on a break.
“I applaud the effort to make something of what’s left there. But I think they are kidding themselves by not realizing the audience for these types of lunchtime events are gone…Perhaps they can keep the Plaza going, but I’m not sure it’s got staying power without an audience. Anyway, that’s my two cents about the plaza and I appreciate your article!” –Anonymous, former downtown worker
Want to comment on a story you read in The Sun? Send emails to the editor at: rondonoho@gmail.com. SDSun
