County Building May Return to the Spotlight

Aiming to help revitalize San Diego’s downtown waterfront, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors is expected to take the first step this week toward restoring year-round exterior lighting at the bay-front County Administration Center.

Under a proposal scheduled to be voted on Tuesday, the board plans to initiate a private fund-raising campaign to come up with the $63,000 needed to purchase the light fixtures to illuminate the 50-year-old building, which this year was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The board hopes to have the relighting program completed in time for a special ceremony July 4.

Describing the Spanish colonial structure as an “architectural jewel . . . linking downtown to the water,” county officials say that lighting the building’s exterior would restore a dramatic nighttime view last seen on the bay front 15 years ago.

As part of the celebration of the city’s 200th birthday in 1969, the bay-front side of the county building was illuminated. The lighting proved so popular that, the following year, the remaining three sides of the building were lit at night.

Amid the energy crisis of 1973, however, the illumination was discontinued. Over the next several years, the ground-level lighting fixtures used to light the building deteriorated and, by the late 1970s, were removed. Some lighting fixtures on the central tower remain in place, but have been disconnected for safety reasons.

With the county building getting renewed attention this year because of its listing on the historic register, local officials last summer began studying the feasibility of reinstituting the nighttime lighting.

A study by General Electric Co. proposes to light the county building with the same type of fixtures used to illuminate the Statue of Liberty, and places the cost at $63,000. Nearly one-third of that amount will be donated to the county by San Diego Gas & Electric Co., which is expected to give the county a $20,000 “challenge grant” for the project next week, according to Robert Lerner, a spokesman for Norman Hickey, the county’s chief administrative officer.

Citizens Coordinate for Century III, a local environmental group, will spearhead the fund-raising drive to solicit the additional $43,000 needed to purchase the lighting fixtures, Lerner said.

“It’s a shame that San Diego’s downtown has few buildings that, architecturally, deserve to be lit up,” said Don Wood, president of the environmental group. “But the county building definitely is one of them. It’s a beautiful building in a beautiful setting. We’d like to light it up as a model for other property owners in the area.”

Under the plan before the supervisors, the building would be illuminated from sunset to about 11 p.m., with operational costs estimated at $22 daily, an expense likely to be absorbed by the county.