La Jolla contractor Tom Grunow is on a mission to enhance the existing La Jolla Cultural Zone by “greening” it and making it more walkable.
He also wants to enhance area parking via the creation of a new subterranean structure beneath the La Jolla Recreation Center playground.
Loosely defined, the La Jolla Cultural Zone is a broad area surrounding the La Jolla Recreation Center at 615 Prospect St. It includes 17 historical sites including Wisteria Cottage, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego [closed for reconstruction], the La Jolla Recreation Center, La Jolla Woman’s Club, and La Valencia Hotel. There are an additional 28 historical cottages associated with the zone. Those structures include Revelle and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) cottages, the Red Roost & Red Rest overlooking the Cove and Heritage Place at 7210-7212 La Jolla Blvd.
Grunow, a past president of La Jolla Historical Society who’s renovated two historical sites — St. James-by-the-sea Episcopal Church and Wisteria Cottage — in the cultural zone, said the alterations he is proposing “could change the character of that entire neighborhood.”
The contractor’s received a vote of confidence from La Jollans who’ve told him, “If anybody can pull it off — it might be you.”
Grunow talked about his restoration plan.
“The idea is to try to make the cultural zone more pedestrian friendly and maybe green it up,” he said noting “there are a number of ways for doing that,” though he cautioned, “You might lose some parking spaces.”
Which is why Grunow’s proposing an underground parking garage.
There is a lot more that needs to be done as well, acknowledged the contractor.
“Over the past seven months I have met with nearly 100 individuals as well as each of the Cultural Zone representatives and many planning organizations, and I have received nearly unanimous encouragement to continue working,” Grunow said. “Each time I explain the project goals of greening up the Cultural Zone and making it more pedestrian friendly. As we look for places to plant and soften the hardscape, a new location for existing parking places being affected must be found.”
The proposed parking garage below the rec center playing field was characterized by Grunow as “the means to the end,” not an end in itself.
Grunow reiterated his parking plan is not “a resurrection of the previous plan to build a garage under the tennis courts,” which he said is being misconstrued — and challenged — by some.
Concerning enhancing La Jolla’s Cultural Zone, Grunow said, “This project has a long way to go. It’s still evolving. At some point in the fall, I would anticipate having public hearings with full notices and community input.” Grunow’s desire is to “continue to work calmly with residents to discuss their concerns, and have a dialogue about “how we can make our community better and how we might ‘make Ellen [Browning Scripps] proud.’ “