{"id":236279,"date":"2013-06-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-05T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/a-world-class-front-porch\/"},"modified":"2013-06-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-05T07:00:00","slug":"a-world-class-front-porch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/a-world-class-front-porch\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u201cworld class\u201d front porch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elected officials hail progress of North Embarcadero\u2019s redevelopment<\/strong><\/p>\n

David Schwab | Noticias del Centro<\/p>\n

Public officials drove a golf cart through a red ribbon on May 20, symbolically marking the halfway point in the first phase of the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan (NEVP) to turn Downtown\u2019s waterfront into a public mecca.<\/p>\n

\"Construction<\/a>
Construction on the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan (NEVP) began in January of 2012. (Photo by Dave Schwab)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With construction begun on Jan. 5, 2012, the project is set to beautify North Harbor Drive from Navy Pier to B Street Pier, and West Broadway between Pacific Highway and North Harbor Drive, by improving roadway, creating public gathering spaces and installing new landscaping.<\/p>\n

Bob Nelson, vice chair of the Board of Port Commissioners, presided over the dedication ceremony conducted mid-street on Harbor Drive, celebrating progress on the plan’s first phase of reclaiming more of the waterfront for public use.<\/p>\n

The ceremony was attended by Mayor Bob Filner, Council President Todd Gloria, City Councilmember Kevin Faulconer and Jeff Graham, president of Civic San Diego, the city’s nonprofit redevelopment corporation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis marks the turning point for this project that’s going to bring this waterfront the acclaim internationally that it well deserves,\u201d Nelson said, adding, \u201cThis complex project has not always been an easy one to keep moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hailing the NEVP as a collaborative effort, Nelson said traffic lanes will be moved approximately 60 feet to the east between the Navy and B Street piers, allowing construction of a 105-foot wide waterfront promenade to begin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re going to create pedestrian walkways, pathways, public art, cafes and places to enjoy and reflect,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cYou’re going to see a beautiful line of palm trees running all the way up Broadway for several blocks and a grove of jacarandas that will be greeting visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Council<\/a>
Council President Gloria, Councilmember Faulconer and Mayor Filner arrive at ceremony. (Photo by Dave Schwab)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nelson also thanked waterfront businesses impacted by construction, noting their patience is going to be rewarded \u201cwith a workable, attractive and extremely appealing waterfront.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Filner cited members of the public and preservation groups for participating in the NEVP.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey spoke up, they demanded things,\u201d Filner said, adding that public officials \u201c\u2026 have followed through to make sure there was more space dedicated to the public for openness and parkland, paying attention to the amenities that will truly make it a front porch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filner said the NEVP’s first phase is will be done in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust in time for our Centennial celebration in Balboa Park,\u201d he said, noting both the North Embarcadero and the park \u201cwill be a showplace for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re not done yet,\u201d Council President Gloria pointed out to those assembled. \u201cWe want to celebrate every single milestone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gloria said \u201creturning public spaces to the public\u201d is a goal being pursued citywide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one infrastructure project that all of us can get behind and get excited about,\u201d Gloria said. \u201cThis project, a collaboration between our Port District, Civic San Diego, the City and the public, is emblematic of the cooperation that is so necessary in the 21st century.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff Graham of Civic San Diego said that with the advent of the NEVP, San Diego is joining the ranks of other great cities in the world, like New York, Toronto and Barecelona, in \u201creuniting their urban waterfronts with city cores and their residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham said the redevelopment project is a team effort to \u201ccreate a more inviting experience for our region’s residents and visitors, with parks, promenades, public art and drought-tolerant landscaping.\u201d<\/p>\n

The North Embarcadero redevelopment, Graham said, should act as a \u201ccatalyst\u201d for future developments in the area, since the public\u2019s investment in \u201cquality urban spaces\u201d generally draws private investment.<\/p>\n

Councilmember Faulconer, who until recently had the waterfront in his council district, said the Embarcadero \u201cis truly coming to life.\u201d He applauded the City\u2019s commitment to seeing this project through and creating \u201ca front porch that will be world class\u201d for residents of San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday my message is, we have to keep going,\u201d Faulconer said, adding that once NEVP’s first phase is completed, \u201c\u2026 we will be able to see all the possibilities. And that, from the very beginning, has been what this is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon completion, the NEVP will include new ticket kiosks, a cafe, a public restroom and a visitor information center, among other publicly accessible attractions.<\/p>\n

For more information about the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan, visit the Port of San Diego\u2019s webpage at portofsandiego.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dave Schwab came to San Diego 30 years ago with a journalism degree from Michigan State University. He has worked for numerous dailies and weeklies and now freelances for a variety of regional publications. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, hiking, sports and spending time with friends. He can be reached at <\/i>dschwabie@journalist.com<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

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Elected officials hail progress of North Embarcadero\u2019s redevelopment Dave Schwab | Downtown News Public officials drove a golf cart through a red ribbon on May 20, symbolically marking the halfway point in the first phase of the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan (NEVP) to turn Downtown\u2019s waterfront into a public mecca. With construction begun on Jan. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":236280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"A \u201cworld class\u201d front porch","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}