Plans Unveiled for NTC Promenade
San Diego's Exciting New Destination for
Innovation and Creativity
SAN DIEGO March 24, 2005 Rarely at this stage of a city’s growth is there an opportunity to create a significant legacy for the community to enjoy for generations to come. The NTC Foundation today publicly unveiled for the first time their specific launch plans for the Phase 1 Opening of NTC Promenade – San Diego’s significant new flagship destination for arts, culture, science and technology located in the heart of Liberty Station, the site of the former Naval Training Center (NTC) in Point Loma. NTC Promenade will be a new landmark and gathering place that will showcase San Diego’s creative community and reflect, advance and strengthen San Diego as a center for innovation and creativity.
For more than 75 years, nearly 2 million Navy recruits and personnel
were trained at NTC and went on to serve our country. In 1993, the
Federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the closure
of NTC. The NTC Foundation, 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation, was established
five years ago to preserve and renovate this signature community asset
and transform it into a place where “Innovative Experiences” will
transform and inspire lives.
Under NTC Foundation auspices are 26 historic buildings on 28 acres, and the USS Recruit, that are part of the Naval Training Center Historic District located minutes from downtown and the San Diego International Airport. San Diego has not had an opportunity to create a project of this size and scope since the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and the creation of Balboa Park.
“After years of studies, community input, planning and visioning, we stand here poised with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to create something truly magnificent for future generations,” said NTC Foundation board chair Phil Blair.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity for San Diego! We are embarking on a new mission for NTC. This former Navy base will once again come alive with energy, excitement, innovation and training,” said Alan Ziter, NTC Foundation executive director. At a special event held overlooking Luce Court, Ziter and Board Chair Phil Blair introduced the first 18 resident groups who will be moving to NTC Promenade, unveiled architectural design and renovation plans and announced pending dates for six historic Spanish Colonial style buildings, three Legacy Plazas and Luce Court. Ziter also announced a major National event to be held at NTC Promenade in 2006.
Phase 1 of NTC Promenade will begin with the fall re-opening of two historic buildings that will be available as public gathering places and private receptions - The Library-(Special Event Center) and The Command Center- (Welcome Center, NTC History Exhibit and Meeting/Conference Center). The additional four Phase 1 buildings and outdoor plazas will continue to open through early 2006.
“Phase 1 is just the beginning of a project serving the creative community the scope of which San Diego has rarely seen,” said Ziter. “This $125 million private-public redevelopment project will not only serve San Diegans and our non-profit cultural organizations, but will put us on the map nationally as a model of a collaborative, creative community.”
This cultural complex is of a size and scale comparable with only the most expansive and important cultural development initiatives recently developed. A few such complexes stand out as models:
- The Seattle Center, with its adaptive cultural reuse of facilities from the Seattle World’s Fair;
- Granville Island, Vancouver, with its reuse of old warehouse buildings as restaurants, retail, theatre and exhibit space;
- The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s conversion of old theaters and retail spaces into a multifaceted cultural and entertainment district;
- Fort Mason in San Francisco, a model base conversion into an arts center;
- MASS MoCA in 28 restored New England mill buildings in North Adams, Massachusetts, home to contemporary art & performances