Our friend Roger Showley (PLHS 1966] just had some ideas of how San Diego could handle the “chase [of] the mirage of a new City Hall” that was published in the U-T Letters to the Editor:
Here’s an off-the-wall, back-to-the-future solution: The city buys back the half of the County Administration Center on Pacific Highway that it sold to the county in the 1960s.
The mayor, City Council and key administrators move in and develop a lot more collaboration with the county on a whole range of duties and projects.
Other departments move elsewhere into professionally run leased space and where they are more accessible to the public — something the county has already done. And repurpose the existing City Hall complex, while retaining the Civic Theater.
The County Administration Center is the most beautiful civic building in city, on the waterfront, an iconic setting. This move might return some pride of place sorely lacking today.
— Roger Showley, Scripps Ranch
The City of SD doesn’t NEED a new City Hall. It’s just his royal highness wanting a name sake. They have wasted and thrown away far too much money on WANTS for special interest groups, so they can stay where they are.
I remember visiting the lofty office of Mayor Frank Curran in the now, County Administration Center, sometime in the 60s as part of an elementary school field trip.
I love biking down there to pay my property taxes every year and wander the building with its high ceilings and solid wood doors that close with KER-PLUNK.
The dumbest thing the city did is sell that beautiful building to the county and move 220 C Street complete with a windblown shaded plaza and a parking garage that smells like urine.
Kudos to the county for turning the CAC surface parking lots into a park, playground and awesome community asset.