The project involves reclamation of the public spaces in the heart of Balboa Park. The objective of the project is to make the area free of cars and use it as park space. The company has identified five areas lost to parking and traffic, which consist of the Plaza de Panama, Plaza de California, West El Prado, Esplanade and the parking lot behind the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.
All the five areas will be renovated to be used as pedestrian park spaces. The traffic from the area will be diverted using Centennial Bridge and Road, which has been recently constructed to allow vehicles to bypass the core of the park and lead directly to parking areas.
The project involves development of a new 797-space below-grade parking structure, which will replace the existing surface parking lot behind the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. The roof of the new car park will serve as a two-acre park. Upon completion of the project, about 6.3 acres of roads and parking lots will be transformed into pedestrian plazas and promenades.
The entire project has been staged in four phases, namely Centennial Bridge and Road project, the below-grade parking structure development project, the rooftop park development project and the restoration of the plazas and promenades scheme.
The project has been designed taking into consideration the historic nature of the park. The project also include preservation and protection of the historic structures and landscape features in the park. Construction is scheduled to be complete by October 2014.
