President’s message

I’m so proud to introduce this, our first newsletter of 2026. Taking a moment to reflect on our recent work like this reminds me that the Balboa Park Committee of 100 is full of talented, passionate people and we do great work. But most importantly, the organization continues to grow, both with new members and new areas of expertise, helping to fuel our mission in the park.

While we continue our core mission of planning and building preservation and restoration projects, 2025 was the year C100 reasserted our role as the “conscience” of the park. By studying and speaking out on important issues that are shaping the park today, we now project our expertise forward, with a firm conviction based on our knowledge of the rich past of the park. 

As you may imagine, the city’s policies for paid parking occupied much of this advocacy focus over the last year, but we also worked with partners in the park like the San Diego Museum of Art, and have provided constructive feedback on projects that will shape the park for years to come.

We have quite a few updates and images to share with you in the following articles, but I’m particularly excited to share a few items that we are working on:

• Our social media presence continues to build on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, thanks largely to the efforts of our own board member, Jon Schmid, and his team at Cook + Schmid. As of March 2026, Jon has also graciously taken the lead of our Communications Committee.

• We have successfully navigated a few setbacks on our current construction project, the restoration of the exterior facade of the Municipal Gym (Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries, 1935). Thanks to the continued efforts and passion of our design and construction team, this project is going to be an amazing addition to the Palisades, and well worth the wait.

• We continue the effort of adding interpretive signage in the Palisades, with two signs in fabrication to be installed concurrent with our Municipal Gym construction activities.

• Our Design & Assistance Committee has dug into details and worked with park partners on issues like a traffic roundabout on Sixth Avenue, as well as a speculative project at the base of the park at Sixth and Elm Street.

All of the above are only possible due to our financial stability, robust governance and our generous donors. If you haven’t donated before, or want to re-engage with us, please consider contributing toward our next project – we have much more to do!

On behalf of the board, thank you for your interest, and I hope you enjoy this newsletter!

Kevin Carpenter

kcarpenter@c100.org