Panel Votes to Turn Hospital Site Green

Advocates of adding more open space to Balboa Park received a big boost Wednesday when a San Diego City Council committee voted to raze most of the buildings at the old Navy Hospital compound when it reverts to city ownership in mid-1988.

The debate over what to do with the compound pits those who want more open space against those who want to retain many of the buildings for historic preservation and to meet a burgeoning demand from the city’s cultural organizations.

The council’s Public Facilities and Recreation Committee came down on the side of more open space when it approved a proposal to tear down 38 of the 42 buildings on the site, which covers 34.5 acres. Council members said the cost of fixing up and maintaining the buildings, 16 of which were built between 1922 and 1937, would be prohibitive.

They also said clearing the way for a passive park is more in line with public sentiment and the needs for the central city park, which has gone from 1,400 acres to 250 acres of open space because of building construction, parking lots and roadways.

Council members voted to keep the hospital administration building, the chapel, the medical library-auditorium and another structure, which would be used to house the city’s Park and Recreation Department. The committee also gave preliminary approval to building a park maintenance building and relocating the police horse stables to low-lying areas of the old hospital property.

The old hospital will revert to city ownership as dedicated park land after the Navy moves to its new hospital in Florida Canyon.