Newsletter
PDF - Millennium Minutes - A Newsletter from the Friends of Balboa Park
News
September 19, 2007: Kiosk construction begins!
Friends board members and staff were there when the kiosk frames were delivered and installed.
Click here for photos.
April 2007: Survey of Park Neighbors and Members
In April, the Friends of Balboa Park mailed over 1700 surveys to members and households in zip codes surrounding Balboa Park, to determine issues of importance to park users. We were surprised with the incredible response rate – 17.6% of surveys were returned, many from people who "use" the park more than a few times per week. We asked people to respond to things they liked the MOST about Balboa Park as well as things they liked the LEAST about the park, in addition to noting opportunities for improvement.
The responses related to positive aspects of the park were varied from the overall "ambiance" to the incredible museums, to the gardens. Not surprisingly, many noted parking as their #1 "issue", followed by vagrancy and security problems with the park. Logically, most often cited opportunity for improvement was for better parking solutions (shuttle, garage, policies), and for better security (lighting, law enforcement, etc.)
For the survey tabulation, please click here.
For additional details, phone the Friends of Balboa Park office at 619-232-2282.
Current: Summer Camps in Balboa Park
The schedule of children’s summer classes in Balboa Park is now available. Click here for a printable brochure.
October 3, 2004: "Survey confirms it: Balboa Park is world-class"
Click here to read the article.
Also see "Other websites – pps.org" in About the Park.
March 28, 2004: In today’s San Diego Union-Tribune, Roger Showley reviews the children’s book "Kate Sessions: The Mother of Balboa Park." To read the review, click here. This book is also included in the book list in About the Park.
March 14, 2004: This week, The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) released an announcement that the APMA and Prevention Magazine have named San Diego as one of the "12 Best Walking Cities in the USA." The APMA states that San Diego is one of "the top twelve cities that are best suited for fitness and walking" because it has "good places to walk, and great things to walk to," including "walker friendly Balboa Park". The complete results of the study appears in the April 2004 issue of Prevention Magazine. "Aside from the weather, two things make San Diego highly walkable," says Stephan Vance, who's with the regional planning agency. "Good places to walk, and great things to walk to." The APMA study concurs: It found that 37 million people flock to San Diego's 53 museums, 15 of which are situated in walker-friendly Balboa Park.
March 5, 2004: The New York Times published a glowing article about San Diego in their travel section entitled "36 Hours in San Diego". The article featured extensive coverage of Balboa Park gardens, museums and the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.
Sunday in the Park
Balboa Park, a 1,200-acre urban oasis, is San Diego's answer to New York's Central Park. Created in 1868, it is the city's cultural centerpiece with extensive gardens and playgrounds, and more than 10 museums, many of them housed in Spanish-Colonial style buildings originally constructed for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition. Highlights include the San Diego Museum of Art's collection of Spanish Baroque paintings as well as works by American artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Thomas Eakins. This summer the museum will host ''St. Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes,'' the largest collection of objects from the Vatican ever to tour North America. The San Diego Model Railroad Museum has six permanent scale-model railroads, while the San Diego Aerospace Museum focuses on local aviation history, including Charles Lindbergh's ''Spirit of St. Louis,'' which was built in San Diego.
Spreckels Organ Pavilion
One of the biggest sensations at the 1915 exposition, was a massive pipe organ donated by the sugar magnates John D. and Adolph B.
Spreckels. With its 73 ranks of 4,518 individual pipes ranging in size from one quarter of an inch to 32 feet, it is still the world's largest outdoor pipe organ. Hour-long free concerts are held every Sunday afternoon at 2 at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion (619-702-8138), an open-air 2,500-seat amphitheater just south of museum row. (Take a hat or umbrella for sun protection.) Carol Williams, the pavilion's artistic director, performs classical or popular works every week.
For complete article, click here.