Architect Urges a Bolder Plan for a New City Hall; Warns of ‘Capitol’ Crime

San Diego wants to build a new City Hall. And not just another functional, drab government-issue “facility” either, but a soaring “Capitol on a hill” in Centre City East. Although the idea sounds great, has attracted much attention and looks good on paper, Donald J. Reeves, local architect-cum-civic booster and concerned citizen, thinks the city is aiming too low.

His message is this: Think bigger, have more vision, be bolder. Remember, you’re not San Francisco or Boston or any other place, so don’t try to copy them. Make your own original statement.

A 20-Square-Block, 60-Acre Tribute

Yes, he says, the new City Hall should be built on the eastern edge of downtown, but that should only be the beginning, not the end. Instead, the city should jump at the opportunity to create a 20-square-block, 60-acre “Civic Center Complex Campus.”

It’s his idea--unofficial and unsolicited--but he did present it to the City Council late last month. The council, reacting with a modicum of interest, thanked Reeves for his effort, then spent most of its time discussing the recommendation of its own consultant, the ROMA Design Group of San Francisco. But the maverick proposal is far from dead.

Reeves, former head of the city’s Historical Site Board, a founding member of the Gaslamp Quarter Council and the architect who redesigned City College in 1973, is forming a committee to push his idea.

And, if there is one area of town Reeves is familiar with, it is Centre City East. Not only can he draw on his City College planning experience, but he fought hard and lost in the late 1970s to move the Navy hospital in Balboa Park to that area, and then, in the early ‘80s, his unsolicited proposal to build a new convention center in the same location was selected as one of four finalists.

“The idea is to bring the green of Balboa Park into the city in an urban, campus setting,” he said.

Uphill Struggle

But he knows all too well he may be fighting another losing campaign because of what he feels is the political entrenchment of the ROMA Group’s proposal.

The ROMA Group has recommended that the city leave its current cramped and faceless confines on C Street and move up the road several blocks east and build a $319-million Civic Center complex that would include a $78-million central library and $241-million City Hall with enough office space to serve the city well into the next century.

Such a complex, spread over as many as seven blocks, would be anchored by a highly visible “landmark” City Hall with a rotunda capped by a dome and an outdoor, 1 1/2-acre public plaza, but the actual look of the building would be selected from the winner of a design competition.

To make it all work, ROMA has recommended the closing of Broadway at the trolley track on 12th Avenue and using Broadway as the main link between the bay and City Hall.

Reeves, though, has trouble with many parts of ROMA concept.

Foremost, he said, the plan is too small. Reeves also believes the proposal to build a classical domed City Hall is little more than a copycat idea borrowed from other cities that have such City Halls--notably San Francisco, where ROMA is based.

And, Reeves says, the closing of Broadway exhibits a certain amount of psychological and emotional “meanness” to the people living in Golden Hill and other neighborhoods to the East, who already feel isolated enough from downtown by Interstate 5 and consider Broadway their entree into the center city.

Against Broadway Closure

“Closing Broadway is a fatal flaw,” says Reeves, whose cheery personality masks the outspokenness of his words. “Psychologically and emotionally, Broadway is a very important street to people who live in Golden Hill. They will revolt.

“What they want is a San Francisco City Hall. Their City Hall is magnificent, no question. But this is not San Francisco. . . . It’s not something for here. What we need is a building that’s identifiable with San Diego . . . like California Tower in Balboa Park, which is similar to a beacon to the public.”

Reeves concedes his plan needs fine-tuning, but his rough idea is to take 20 city blocks--including those favored by ROMA--and build a complex that not only would house a huge City Hall 500-feet high but would also have room for a new municipal gym, a new Starlight Bowl, a new sports arena, buildings for a new UC San Diego extension, a giant, five-block-long, 6,000-car parking garage and, possibly, a new central library. There would be so much open space, though, Reeves argues, that no one would feel cramped.

The 60 acres would stretch from the trolley line on 12th Avenue on the west, to 17th Street and Interstate 5 on the east, G Street to the south and C Street to the north. Instead of closing Broadway, Reeves would move one block over and close off E Street, making that a major pedestrian link between the new Civic Center complex and Horton Plaza, leaving Broadway as a thoroughfare set aside for buses and taxis.

In addition, five other streets--from 13th to 17th streets--would be closed at G Street.

All Major Goals Are Met

“This represents the opportunity to provide all the major policy goals for downtown,” he said. Among those social goals, says Reeves, are education, recreation and, as mundane as it sounds, traffic control.

As for cost, Reeves says that area of town is “the most undervalued property” downtown, and that his rough estimates show that the private property in the 20-block area is assessed at about $23 million.

As for the expense of constructing the buildings in the huge complex, Reeves says that, aside from building City Hall, there is no reason why everything else has to be built right away.

In fact, Reeves believes it is a mistake for the city to over-plan and leave future generations without options as to what they might want to do. The important thing is to buy the land now. And, if it costs more than the ROMA proposal, which Reeves describes as “this itty bitty little thing,” then that’s the price a city of 1 million-plus people should pay for a truly world-class complex.

“I want to jar people into thinking about what the opportunities are and to have the boldness to acquire it now . . . because the city has the opportunity to make a significant and bold statement down there.”

Idea Has Other Backing

One other architect who has studied Civic Center proposals on his own, says Reeves’ idea has merit.

Joseph Martinez, a local architect based downtown who also teaches architecture at UC San Diego, said Reeves’ proposal embodies many elements that would enhance downtown’s development. From the parking garage, which could be used as a holding facility for the central core, to links with City College, Martinez says, the Reeves plan could work.

More important, Martinez agrees with Reeves that the ROMA plan has faults, not only because it transplants some other city’s architectural design for City Hall but also, he stressed, because the closing of Broadway would turn the city’s back on Golden Hill.

He noted, for example, that closing E Street wouldn’t be as big a deal because it already dead-ends at the freeway.

Councilman Ed Struiksma is intrigued by parts of the Reeves plan. It was Struiksma, who before Reeves brought his proposal forward, called on the city to study the idea of buying property behind the new City Hall all the way to I-5 and turning it into a park two blocks wide, similar to Capitol Park that extends from the state Capitol in Sacramento.

‘Somewhat Ambitious’

“My initial reaction (to Reeves’ plan) is that it’s somewhat ambitious,” he said. “Like a lot of things, it’s good, but you have to find the money tree.”

But Struiksma says there are parts of Reeves’ plan that should be looked at more carefully before any decision on the new Civic Center is made.

That’s essentially the way Maureen Stapleton, the deputy city manager in charge of the Civic Center complex, also sees it. “I think there are components that are quite compatible with the concept scheme” proposed by ROMA, Stapleton says.

But Stapleton says that, because the city is now focusing on a more detailed cost analysis of the Centre City East site versus reusing the existing City Hall complex on C Street, a closer look at Reeves’ plan will have to wait a while.

“There will be a point where we look at the architectural elements . . . and a point where we will need to talk about future acquisitions,” she said. “I think there is an opportunity to get the best of both worlds.”