The Point Loma People for Progress held a meeting and open forum for the community about advancements at Liberty Station Saturday, Sept. 30.
NTC Promenade Operations Director Lew Witherspoon welcomed community members and boasted the completion and opening of the NTC Welcome & Conference Center, which transformed the original NTC Commander’s Headquarters.
Witherspoon also reminded the community that DancePlace San Diego, the city’s largest location devoted entirely to dance, should be complete in the next couple of weeks. DancePlace San Diego will include rehearsal, studio, office and rental space, a café and dance schools.
Walter Heiberg, senior vice president of The Corky McMillin Companies, which partnered with the City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency to realize Liberty Station, spoke to the group about the Sail Ho Golf Course, which reopened on Sept. 30 to the public.
“Unfortunately, that has taken a little bit longer, or a lot longer depending on your point of view,” Heiberg joked about the renovation.
Heiberg said that the NTC Park is 99 percent finished, but it is still unknown when it will open.
“It’s up to God and the weather as to when it is open to the public,” Heiberg said, explaining that they are currently waiting for the new grass to grow and be well-established before officially opening to the public.
According to Heiberg, another project that many community members have asked about is the addition of Trader Joe’s to the marketplace.

Heiberg explained that the historic building that would house the Trader Joe’s has taken a lot longer to rehabilitate. He said that they are hoping to open before the end of the year and possibly even before the holidays, adding that crews have run into problems such as lead paint and asbestos.
Heiberg also said that the hotel district along the other side of the boat channel has its development under contract and that the project should be complete in a year or two.
During the meeting, community members were given time to voice their concerns, which included the placement of a memorial to submarines and soldiers lost during World War II and the proposed parking lot construction for Shoreline Plaza.

Marilyn Jenkins, a local resident, voiced her concerns about the basketball courts being located too close to homes.
Heiberg insisted that the 52 trees purchased for a World War II memorial would be part of the Phase II development and should go into the ground during the third quarter of 2007.
The Liberty Station Organization, founded for and by the owners and residents of Liberty Station, opposed the Shoreline Plaza parking lot construction, which members said would demolish 10 nonhistoric buildings to provide 500 spaces, although overall parking at the NTC project site would still be below maximum spaces anticipated.
“As a developer, we want to make sure parking is available,” Heiberg countered. The developer has city approval to demolish all buildings except one, he continued, a decision that was appealed to a hearing officer on Wednesday, Oct. 4. A verdict was not in by press time.
Rick Linamen, executive pastor from the Rock Church, was the last of those in attendance to provide an update. He said construction is currently underway to build The Rock Academy “” a kindergarten through eighth-grade school, as well as the gymnasium for use by the academy and the church.
Linamen said that they are working with neighbors to minimize noise, traffic and parking inconveniences. However, many community members said parking is already tight “” without the addition of shops and the Rock Academy “” due to the High Tech schools.
More on P3 is available at www.plpeopleforprogress.org.