Context 3: A Day on the Bay
The San Diego Architectural Foundation held its 3rd Context event on June 2, 2016, at the end of the Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego. This Context event, titled “A Day on the Bay,” focused on visioning a smart bayfront. The event was split into two parts: Part One, which was open to the public, and Part Two, which was a ticketed event.
©Studio Maha
To start off Part One of the event, all of SDAF’s wonderful sponsors were given the opportunity to set up a booth where the public could come and inquire about their businesses. After seeing all of the organizations and businesses who took part in the event, guests were prompted to take a seat to listen to the first talk of the day. The first talk, given by Leslie Nishihira of the Unified Port of San Diego, revealed to guests the changes that are currently being made, as well as the plans for the further development of their section of the Bay. One of the changes that was highlighted by Nishihira was the upcoming Portside Pier project. This development will take up the space just south of the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The space will be divided up into 4 different pieces. Each of these pieces will be occupied by a different type of restaurant or bar. On the ocean side of the proposed project, there will be a public dock, allowing people to dock their boats and grab a nice meal.
©Studio Maha
©Studio Maha
©Studio Maha
Part Two of Day on the Bay started at 5:15pm with beverages provided by the Snake Oil Cocktail Company, and food provided by Eddie V’s, Seasons 52, Coasterra, Asaggio, and Jerry G. Bishop’s Greek Islands Cafe. At 7pm, the panel talk, moderated by Jennifer Luce, and given by Chula Vista City Manager Gary Halbert, City of San Diego’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer David Graham, Port Environmental Advisory Committee member Robert Nelson, and Unified Port of San Diego leader Jason Giffen, began. Jason Giffen spoke about the relatively new approach that the group is using in planning the future of the ports of San Diego. The group calls it “integrated planning.” Integrated planning is a holistic based approach to planning. Essentially, instead of thinking of the different ports as individual plans, the Unified Port of San Diego thinks of all the plans together as a network of plans. Because of this, when considering new proposals for the ports, it is crucial to think about how one plan works with the other plans. To start the planning process, they begin with a large scale master plan, where they hammer out all of their ideas, and figure out just exactly what they want to see in the future in the ports. Then the group looks to each one of the ports individually, and figures out how they can integrate this master plan into each redevelopment. This idea of integrated planning helps keep one consistent theme in the development of the ports, and allows San Diego as a whole to get the very most out of its ports.
©Studio Maha
The point of this Context event was to let the public experience the future of the San Diego Bay. The people of San Diego play an integral role in the future of the redevelopment of each space. Through A Day on the Bay, the Unified Port of San Diego was not only able to obtain a general idea of what the San Diego community thinks of each plan, but they were also able to get some feedback from other San Diego residents. Events like this one allow for the public to really make the bay their own. This is certainly a very exciting time for San Diego as a whole as the upcoming plans for the bay feature some outstanding eateries, and certainly some future San Diego landmarks.
See more pictures from this wonderful event HERE!
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