A Spot to Sample Flavor of the Cup : Festivities: Exhibits, food and attractions focus on sailing at America’s Cup International Centre, opening today.

America’s Cup fans can drop their anchors and let down their sails to catch the flavor of the world’s premier yacht racing event amid a mix of food and attractions at an outdoor entertainment center opening today in downtown San Diego.

The America’s Cup International Centre, will offer spectators everything from a bite to eat to a chance to view international exhibits in a street-scene environment. The 90,000-square-foot compound, on Pacific Highway between Broadway and Ash Street, is free to the public.

Workers were busy Thursday unloading potted trees and flowers as they put finishing touches on the compound, expected to draw a million to 2 million spectators during the three-month international regatta.

The centerpiece of the compound is a four-sided painting with a maritime scene, titled “Reaching for Victory.” The 21,500-square-foot painting was created by French artist Catherine Feff to salute the sailing event by depicting its history.

In addition, the nine syndicates competing in the America’s Cup will showcase team merchandise and display exhibits from their countries in white tents adorned with flags.

Spectators can take a break and grab a bite to eat at a T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant, complete with a full sports bar and a television set with a 12-foot screen for viewing the races.

Plans also call for a dozen or so outside vendors to take part in weekend food fairs, featuring bites of cuisine from the various countries with teams competing in the racing event.

Organizers hope both tourists and locals, particularly families, will frequent the center. To meet that goal, carnival style attractions such as mimes and jugglers were included in the entertainment plans.

Attractions at the center will change through the event, culminating with the actual cup races in April and May.

The event is being produced and managed by the Omnis Co., a Los Angeles-based entertainment and production firm whose credits include work on three World’s Fairs and jobs consulting Universal Studios and Disney World.

Omnis President Jim Ishii said he believes the center will fair better than the America’s Cup Village. The lavish village was a major money loser erected last May to celebrate the world championship event.

“We’re confident we can pull the people in,” Ishii said. “We came in knowing there would be limited funds and that basically we’d have to work with what we’ve got.”

Ishii said his company took a more modest approach in planning the center, keeping to a street scene environment and erecting tents instead of aluminum buildings.

Reid Shibata, vice president of business affairs for Omnis, also pointed to the downtown location and an abundance of surrounding parking.

“I think it has a very good mix of components to attract and entertain the people who come to visit it,” Shibata said. “Rather than being a Seaport Village or a normal theme park, it’s going to be a place where all of the things that are there to see or do have a nautical or sailing kind of identity.”

The compound will operate daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to midnight on weekends throughout the races. The center is sponsored by AT&T.;