A peek into the future of San Diego’s Civic Center area (Downtown San Diego Partnership)

Downtown ‘Mega Park’ on the Distant Horizon

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

Proposals outlined by the Prebys Foundation and the Downtown San Diego Partnership to construct a spacious park and new civic plaza in the core of downtown are gaining traction. 

The three-acre project is slated to engulf key components of San Diego’s aging Civic Center, which includes Golden Hall and City Hall. The park will border Union and B streets and rank as downtown’s largest green space.

Still in the early master-planning phase, the park hasn’t yet been given a name. Its actual design will fall into the hands of philanthropic organizations and urban planning firms, which so far includes the Philadelphia-based architectural group, U3 Advisors.

Grassy lawns, large-canopy trees and a paved, open area are the main elements included in the preliminary blueprints.

But San Diegans will have to sit tight before seeing the park materialize. The project isn’t expected to break ground until early 2028. And the entire revitalization of the Civic Center District won’t be completed until 2031.