Daniela Miranda and her family visited Balboa Park on the last day of their San Diego vacation.
“It’s beautiful. It’s so gorgeous,” Miranda said in the park Wednesday. “I can’t take enough pictures of the architecture and the scenery.”
City leaders, arts organizations and other park tenants want to keep it that way, but they need funding beyond what the city says it can afford.
The park needs restroom and lighting upgrades and roof, electrical and plumbing repairs, especially at the museums and other tourist attractions, according to advocates. They say it will cost about $500 million.
“Some of the needs are beyond the abilities of the institutions themselves to fundraise for, and are beyond the current ability of the city to be able to finance, given the city’s current financial condition,” District 3 Councilmember Stephen Whitburn said.
That’s why a new report from the Burnham Center for Community Advancement says the park needs another group to help fundraise for and manage those projects.
“Government has a certain audience, while a nonprofit or other private partner that is leading the effort in the park is going to have a different audience and can do things a little differently than the city,” said Tad Parzen, the Burnham Center’s president and CEO. “The more the merrier on this, as long as it's well organized.”
The nonprofit Forever Balboa Park signed an agreement with the City of San Diego earlier this year outlining its role within the park. It includes caring for the park’s trails, trees and gardens with the help of volunteers. Forever Balboa Park has also overseen fundraising for the restoration of the botanical building.
Parzen said the park’s museums and other leased buildings need dedicated attention now.
“That's where we're falling behind and everyone is left to their own devices,” he said.
Park stakeholders are working together on what a new partner should look like. They hope to have a proposal ready by the end of the year.
