Plaza de Plaza de Panama parking ends — as area is returned to pedestrians
What was created for the 1915 Exposition has returned to the heart of Balboa Park with the removal today of the parking spaces in the Plaza de Panama. “I’ve been waiting 25 years for this day,” recalled Mayor Bob Filner yesterday morning as he moved the project ahead. Orange traffic cones were in place early as city workers began stripping the lot of parking signs and concrete curbs for 60 cars. Soon it will be re-surfaced in tan (see graphic at lower left) — with new trees, benches, cafe tables and other amenities for San Diegans to enjoy. The work will be completed (mostly at night) during the next 
couple weeks at the cost of less than $300,000.
As a bonus…a free tram into the Plaza de Panama from the outer parking lots will begin late July or early August.
The historic pedestrian promenade built nearly a century ago for the Panama-California Exposition has been devoted to cars for the past several decades. Mayor Filner’s solution to the gridlock follows the $45 million makeover proposal financed by Qualcomm billionaire Irwin Jacobs (the controversial plan is still supported by Council President Todd Gloria). Dr. Jacobs envisioned a bypass bridge through Alcazar parking lot to a paid parking garage behind the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Many believed a better solution was possible.
Help came when a Superior Court judge found that it violated historic preservation codes — a ruling that’s now on appeal. Several Bankers Hill residents attended Monday’s press conference to show support for the pedestrian plaza. Mayor Filner attended the May meeting of the Bankers Hill Residents Group where he received overwhelming support from neighbors west of Balboa Park.
