Panel OKs Razing of Navy Hospital : Planning Commission Urges Turning Most Buildings Back Into Parkland

Opting for open space over historical preservation, the city Planning Commission on Thursday voted to raze all but three buildings of the old Navy Hospital complex on Balboa Park’s Inspiration Point.

In the latest step in the fierce battle over future use of the site, commissioners voted 5 to 1 to follow the pleas of environmentalists and park users to restore the area in greenery rather than as a historical memorial to World War II wounded who were cared for there. The commission’s recommendation that only three of the 78 buildings scattered over the 50-acre site be retained will now go to the City Council.

Singled out for preservation were the main administration building, which stands at the entrance to the old hospital complex, the wooden chapel and a new library building, which the commission recommended be used in the future for a children’s library.

The Navy will turn over the property, which it has occupied since the 1920s, to the city in about 18 months as part of an exchange providing a Florida Canyon site for construction of a new Navy Hospital next to the aging structures.

Commissioner Pauline Oquita opposed the majority commission decision, calling it “a minimalist view” that does not take into consideration the fact that “people come to Balboa Park for the activity there--the galleries, museums, theaters, restaurants.” She advocated preservation of a larger number of the old hospital structures for housing other cultural displays and activities.

Commission Chairman Ron Roberts, summing up the commission’s views, said that few of the pink stucco hospital buildings had architectural or historical value. He advocated returning “the greatest portion of the land back to green space” because that was the promise made to San Diego voters in 1979, when the Navy-city land swap was proposed, and “the issue now is, to what extent are we going to honor that covenant?”

The commission’s decision, which will be forwarded to the City Council for a final determination expected next year, came quickly after the third session of public comment and a city Planning Department staff recommendation that most of the main hospital complex be retained, renovated and put to use to house groups seeking space in the city park.

City planner Angeles Liera said 18 of the buildings should be preserved for their historic value and their potential as quarters for a number of groups now housed along the park’s El Prado. The vacated El Prado space could then be used to display valuable museum artifacts now stored out of sight in basements, he said.

Over the past six months, half a dozen city boards, committees and departments have proposed uses for the Navy Hospital land ranging from total open space to preservation of all salvageable complex buildings.

Siding with the Planning Commission in seeking to restore the hospital grounds to its former use as parkland was the city manager’s office, which proposed to save only one of the older structures and three relatively new ones. Jack McCrory, management assistant, pointed out to commissioners Thursday that of the original 1,400 acres of open space in Balboa Park, only about 250 acres remain.