The city of San Diego this week gave a sneak peek inside the renovation of the Balboa Park Botanical Building, now in its third year.
The city posted a video on Twitter showing construction crews inside the building, which has been closed to the public since January 2022.
The iconic structure was built in 1914, in time for the Panama-California Exposition the following year. The renovation project aims to repair more than a century’s worth of issues like rust and corrosion, wood rot and termite damage. The project will also improve accessibility and make the building better able to support crowds, as well as update the irrigation, plumbing and lighting systems.
The project will cost $28.5 million, paid for by a patchwork of city, state, federal and private funding. It was initially expected to cost around $21 million, but that figure went up by $7 million “due to a combination of inflation, material cost increases and added construction to address some of the unforeseen needs that were discovered,” according to a city spokesman.
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Those additional, unanticipated construction needs also elongated the project’s schedule, according to the city. Officials expect to reopen the building this fall, though it could be pushed later. After that, the second phase of the project will begin. Phase 2 will be managed by the nonprofit group Forever Balboa Park and will focus on exterior landscaping and irrigation.
The delays and additional costs have done little to temper the excitement many feel about finally seeing the finished product.
Diane Mecham was visiting a friend in San Diego on Thursday. One of their first stops was Balboa Park, where she had hoped to visit the Botanical Building but was a few months too early.
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“We didn’t know that it was under construction or remodel,” Mecham said. “That is just amazing, what’s happening there. It’s going to be fabulous.”
“I will come back for that,” Mecham continued. “I’m a plant person. I love gardens and conservatories and arboretums and botanical gardens, and so that’s going to check off all those.”
Amara Nyokobeaty grew up coming to Balboa Park every week with her mom.
“This is literally one of the top field trip destinations, top San Diego tourist destinations," Nyokobeaty said. "Everybody comes here."
Nyokobeaty grabbed her camera to capture the Botanical Building action.
“As a San Diegan, I know this is a once in a lifetime shot,” Nyokobeaty said, gesturing to the construction.
“This is history," Nyokobeaty said. "I’ve never seen this building being rebuilt, and I know I probably never will be seeing it again."
“This place has been here longer than I’ve been alive, and it’ll be here longer than I ever will be alive, I’m sure,” Nyokobeaty said. “I had to get this. They’re not going to reconstruct this probably ever again in my life, so I had to take the opportunity.”
The Botanical Building is home to more than 2,100 plants, most of which were moved to an offsite nursery during the reconstruction. The interior-planting process was underway.
