By Nancy Carol Carter A Balboa Park garden with both historical and botanical significance has been hiding in plain sight for more than a century. Recent action by the San Diego Parks and Recreation Board lifted the garden from obscurity by officially naming it the “Sessions-Brandegee Hesper Palm Grove.” The garden will be added to park maps and marked with an interpretive sign. In her only foreign plant hunting expedition, horticulturist Kate Sessions ventured to the tip of

By Javier Santos , chair C100 Design Review & Assistance Committee Aproposed roundabout at Sixth Avenue and Juniper Street on the west side of Balboa Park is the latest project to be discussed by the Balboa Park Committee of 100’s recently created Design Review & Assistance Committee. Architect Bruce Dammann and landscape architects Marty Poirier and Michael Singleton reviewed the city’s plan recently at a committee meeting and expressed concern that it would negatively impac

By Ross Porter Among the priorities that San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has set is an update to the 1989 Balboa Park Master Plan and related precise plans, including the 1992 one for Central Mesa, where most museums and cultural attractions are located. In recent months, three grants have been made to the city to pay for the work of the plan updates: San Diego Association of Governments, $1 million; California Transportation Department’s sustainable transportation planning gra

By Pete Garcia, chair C100 Projects Committee Designs for a possible fountain in the Palisades’ Pan-American Plaza are being shared with the city and park stakeholders to gauge interest in this feature that has gone unimplemented since its inclusion in the Balboa Park Master Plan in 1989. Board members Robert Thiele and Vicki Estrada, the latter who wrote the master plan and its companion Central Mesa specific plan of 1992, have most recently focused on what they call a “s

The Balboa Park Committee of 100 is proud to introduce new board members, Laura Burnett and Vicki Estrada. Laura Burnett Burnett is a skilled landscape architect at the firm attention2 with her husband and fellow landscape architect, Martin Poirier. Her local projects have included Torrey Pines (city) Park and Caltrans District 11 headquarters in Old Town. She has served on many nonprofit and municipal boards, including the California Urban Foresters Council, San Diego Commis

By Roger Showley Balboa Park is the city’s “crown jewel” but it sure is a challenge to get there, get around and get out. The Balboa...

For those of you I have not had a chance to meet yet, I’m excited to introduce myself as the new president for 2025. I’ve been with the...

By Ross Porter A collection of then-and-now photographs showed various C100 projects since its founding in 1967 as well as period...