Media Headquarters for America’s Cup Moved

The America’s Cup media center, headquarters for the many sportswriters, television reporters and others expected to relay the 1992 regatta to the rest of the world, probably will move from the picturesque B Street Pier to a warehouse area a mile or so down the road.

The change to the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal might not be what everyone wanted but “it’s reality,” San Diego Port Commissioner Robert Penner said Tuesday, moments before the Board of Port Commissioners voted to have a consultant prepare cost estimates for two sites at the largely vacant terminal.

Reality in this case is another word for money. It was clear that transforming a part of the B Street Pier to accommodate the America’s Cup media was going to be expensive, at $3 million or more. And, after the races are over and the media have left, the Port of San Diego would be left with a costly building with little residual or reuse value.

“I got to say that, for a six-month event, it was not worth that,” Tom Mitchell, a top official with the America’s Cup Organizing Committee, said in a telephone interview.

Not only would building a media center at the B Street Pier be expensive, but there is little space for large television trucks and their equipment, Mitchell said.

As a result, officials from the Port District and the ACOC spent several weeks searching for other waterfront locations.

Although other sites were looked at, the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal near the foot of the Coronado Bay Bridge and in an area heavy with railroad tracks, a tank farm and Port District maintenance shops was judged the best.

The two specific locations are a former Van Camp tuna cannery office building and an old warehouse.

Despite its industrial character, the same area was used in 1988 as syndicate headquarters for the maverick New Zealand “Big Boat” Cup challenge. In fact, the warehouse now being evaluated as a possible media center was used by New Zealand as a sail loft.

Mitchell said ACOC officials would prefer to use the warehouse, which is now vacant, rather than the office building. The warehouse’s transformation into an international media center is expected to be significantly cheaper than remodeling the B Street Pier.

The exact expense won’t be known until the consultant, Tectonics Inc., completes its $25,000 report.

Mitchell said the likelihood of using the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal “is a tough call for us.” He said the ACOC wanted to keep the terminal in reserve as a fail-safe site for use by a sailing syndicate unable to find or negotiate a contract for a bayside facility. Putting a media center there almost certainly precludes the fail-safe option.

Also, Mitchell said, the ACOC is concerned about the aesthetics of the terminal area, how the tank farm, maintenance shops and possible truck traffic might affect media impressions.

“We’re meeting them (Port District) half-way,” said Mitchell, a feeling echoed by Port Commissioner Raymond Burk, who told the board Tuesday that the terminal location is a compromise satisfactory to all.

Although in an industrial area, the terminal is not entirely removed from other Cup activity.

It is just a small patch of bay across from Dennis Conner’s syndicate headquarters at the foot of 5th Avenue near the Chart House restaurant, and the proposed America’s Cup village at Embarcadero Marina park, as well as a new 1,750-car parking lot across from the Convention Center, are close as well.

The media, though, will be a long walk or shuttle ride from the ACOC’s headquarters, which are proposed to occupy 18,000 square feet on the B Street Pier.