By Catherine Spearnak

The possible creation of a small community park in Hillcrest moved one step closer to reality Sunday afternoon when architectural design students from Tijuana visited the site.

Design students from Escuela Libre De Arquitectura crossed the border for an initial site visit on Normal Street between University Avenue and Harvey Milk Street. The Hillcrest Pride Flag flagpole stands in the median where the small proposed park would be.

To the east of the proposed park is a 7-Eleven and to the west is Hillcrest Brewing Company and businesses that include Oscar Wilde’s Irish Gastropub.

The students made their first visit to Hillcrest to see what the site looks like. From suggestions collected by the Hillcrest Business Association (HBA) from community members and their own vision, the students will draft a park proposal to present to the Hillcrest community and to city planners.

“We’ve had hundreds of ideas and suggestions from the community, from urban gardens to dog parks to an event space. I am excited to see community ideas come to fruition,” said Benjamin Nicholls, executive director of the HBA.

Nicholls said the HBA queried two local architecture schools, the New School of Architecture and the Woodbury University School of Architecture, but they had no interest in participating in the project. Showing enthusiasm were officials of Escuela Libre De Arquitectura, which is part of the thriving arts and culture scene in Tijuana.

The park proposed by the HBA will need to be approved by the Uptown Planners and the Hillcrest Town Council before going to a final vote by the San Diego City Council, which Nicholls hopes will come in 2016.

Nicholls said the first designs from Escuela Libre De Arquitectura design school should arrive in Hillcrest within three weeks.

“My hope is they will take all the community comments and get together and design the park,” Nicholls said.

—Catherine Spearnak is a San Diego-based freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].