Port Eyes ‘Pizazz’ to Bring More Ships to B Street Pier

Hoping to bolster the cruise ship business in San Diego, the San Diego Unified Port District on Tuesday authorized a maximum $100,000 for architectural plans that would “give a lift to an old barn” and remodel the North Shed on the B Street Pier as a temporary cruise ship terminal.

The design presented to port officials includes a second-story observation deck and an open-air pavilion at the west end of the pier to allow more than one cruise ship to dock--a total renovation cost of $1.7 million.

“We owe the city and county a respectable place to develop our cruise ship business,” said port commissioner Phil Creaser, “and I think this is it. I don’t think you’re going to get much more for your money.”

Plans call for the remodeled building to be open for business by Christmas and for the structure to have a life span of at least five years, commissioners said.

While lauding Woodford and Bernard Architects for “a hell of a plan,” Creaser voiced fears that the cruise ship business may be subject to ups and downs due to political turbulence in Mexico.

“This plan represents the optimum expenditure that we should be supplying at this time,” he said. “And I think this will turn out to be a significantly better cruise ship terminal than most cities have to offer.”

Although the commissioners voted unanimously to give the architects a green light for further work on the project, several objected to the concept of a pavilion and observation deck. The two features --at an estimated cost of $370,000 --are not essential, they argued.

Commissioner Louis Wolfsheimer also said the preliminary plans lacked “pizazz” and “excitement.” The board asked the architects to present alternative color schemes.

“You’ve given quite a lift to an old barn,” said board Chairman William Rick, “but I would like to see progress made in the way of graphics.”

Remodeling of the middle part of the North Shed (the east and west parts are used for storage) would include a new concrete floor and roll-up doors, glass entryways, and a restructured interior, with banners and hanging lights to mask the shed’s high ceiling. In a nautical motif, blue awnings would hang outside the entrance to customs, immigration and baggage pickup services inside the North Shed.

In other business, port officials heard a request by representatives of the Maritime Museum for a temporary mooring of the historical ships Berkeley and Medea near the B Street Pier. The Berkeley, an 1898 ferry boat, is docked broadside to the pier and pounds against it, causing damage to the ferry’s hull, museum President Paul Kettenburg said. The ship should be moored in an east-west position, he said.

The Medea, a 1904 steam yacht, has been docked at Shelter Island since January, off limits to visitors, because of similar damage to the ship at the Embarcadero, Kettenburg said.

The matter was referred to the Port District director for further study.

Also referred for study was a request by a representative of Palomar Observatory for conversion to low-pressure sodium lights on tidelands owned by the Port District. Robert Brucato told the commission that light pollution interferes with astronomers’ ability to use the observatory’s powerful 200-inch telescope.