Palisades Fountain Update

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 “splash pad.”

The plaza’s Firestone Singing Fountain was a prominent water element at the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition, but it was replaced by a parking lot after the expo.

Thiele and Estrada are seeking to respect the 1935 fountain while activating the plaza to delight kids and everyone who visits the park.

The splash pad, as currently envisioned, would be the same size as the 1935 fountain and include six water jets in a similar configuration as at the expo. But the innovation would be a series of metal grates over the pool that would allow visitors to walk over the splash pad and play in the spray.

The city is nearing completion on a similar feature at East Village Green downtown. The county built a much larger interactive fountain at the County Administration Center. At the Civita community in Mission Valley, Sudberry Properties included a splash pad at its central park.

Most recently Imperial Beach and the San Diego Unified Port District started construction on a splash pad at IB’s Portwood Pier Plaza.

C100 President Kevin Carpenter is meeting with the institutions surrounding the plaza to acquaint them with the latest plans. Also being briefed are city officials, Parks & Recreation leaders, the Historic Resources Board staff,  Balboa Park Committee and other stakeholders, such as Forever Balboa Park and the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership.

The final outcome of these meetings could result in expediting this very exciting and complex project to delight the public, transforming the plaza into a very popular activated Plaza.

The Bea Evenson Fountain, named for C100’s founder, in the Plaza de Balboa outside the Natural History Museum is one of several monumental and decorative fountains throughout the park.

Photo: C100