Nature Center Precursor of Development

Rising on the bayside site of a World War I munitions factory--surrounded by egrets, herons, sea gulls, plovers, terns and pelicans--is a $2-million nature center that, some residents contend, is being built to pave the way for a nearby luxury hotel.

Members of the Bayfront Conservancy Trust, including county Supervisor Brian Bilbray and Chula Vista Mayor Greg Cox, Tuesday led a contingent of planners, environmental and government officials on a tour of their showplace--precursor to a park and, they hope, a bayfront resort hotel, heralding the beginning of tourist-attracting development as a 770-acre, $500-million project.

The nature center, which occupies a 10-acre site on the upland portion of Gunpowder Point, is 65% complete and is expected to be finished by February.

The point, named for the Hercules Gunpowder Factory, which flourished there from 1911 to 1925, fronts on San Diego Bay but juts out into fast-disappearing coastal wetlands.

Plans to build a large hotel on the point have been stymied by environmental groups seeking to protect the endangered least tern and light-footed clapper rail from humans and automobiles. Only in recent months have regulatory agencies given conditional approval to construction of a road and parking areas.

Redevelopment officials; representatives of the landowner, Santa Fe Land Improvement Co., and the project developer, Watt Industries, have been seeking approval for the plan from state and federal regulatory agencies since 1972.

In its most recent action on the redevelopment project, the state Coastal Commission approved revisions to the plan that provide for 21 acres of industrial development, 18 acres of residential construction, 45 acres for commercial office development, 15 acres in tourist-related commercial uses and 25 acres in park and recreational facilities. The remainder of the 770-acre tract would remain in its present uses or its natural state as marshland, buffers and open space.

A Sierra Club lawsuit seeking to prevent intrusion on the wildlife habitat by visitor-serving facilities such as roads and drainage channels is still pending, and is expected to further delay the proposed development.