Salk Institute intends to build out the rest of its 26-acre, iconic campus that perches on Torrey Pine bluffs and overlooks a dazzling panorama of the Pacific Ocean.
The institute, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road, would add about 40 percent more space to its operations, expanding to its furthest corners as intended by founder Jonas Salk and detailed in the University City Community Plan.
Some community members are concerned, however, that parts of the development are inappropriate and irresponsible and don’t mesh with the founder’s original vision to prioritize science and preserve the surrounding environment.
Salk presented its master plan before the University Community Planning Group (UCPG) on Tuesday, June 13. The master plan would add a new daycare facility and residential quarters to the southwest mesa, and a core facility, community center and three levels of underground parking to the northwest mesa to expand the campus by 210,182 square feet. Facilities today stretch over 290,000 square feet of space. Temporary buildings built in the 1960s would also be torn down.
Salk intended the entire campus to be utilized, said Mark Rowson, the planning consultant for the project. Expansion would also alleviate dense working conditions. While the employee population does not expect to grow beyond 10 or 15 percent over the next several decades, expanding the campus would address the overcrowding.
“The space that is there today is being utilized at three or four times the population density that it was originally designed for,” Rowson said. “The additional space allows the institute to free up and it allows for people to breathe.”
Some community members did not agree with destroying prime open space for non-scientific uses, though. The daycare facility and residential quarters are essential to competing for the nation’s top scientists, Rowson said. The 12 residential units would house visiting faculty, as well as serve as temporary housing while employees find their own. The buildings are also consistent with the founder’s vision to create a community and support center within the campus, he argued.
Furthermore, science has evolved from the male-dominated force in the 1960s, when the campus was first built, to today’s equal divide between male and female employees, Rowson said. Salk employees would benefit from an on-site daycare facility.Some community members didn’t buy the rationale.
“It’s irresponsible development,” one local said. “That small part of the daycare facility can easily be accommodated into the rest of the 210,000 square feet of development.”
Employees can stay in local hotels and children can be dropped off at nearby daycare centers, argued a few residents. Rowson said the institute worked with local institutes to share their daycare to no avail, and that building off-campus would be too expensive.
All development would occur on top of the mesa and would not impact the biologically sensitive canyon, he emphasized. Iconic views from the original, world-renowned Salk-Kahn building would not be affected by new development, Rowson said.
In a separate curve ball to the project, a group of environmentalists, architects, preservationists and lawyers attempted to place the entire campus on the National Register of Historic Places a year ago, but the institute resisted. The coalition reasoned that the institute wouldn’t want additional oversight when planning to develop, while a spokesperson for Salk maintained that becoming part of the national register was not in the institute’s best interests.
“It is unfortunate that the state historical commission adopted a boundary that encompasses the entire property, not just the original buildings,” spokeswoman Cathy Yarbrough told the La Jolla Village News in August 2005.
Staff is currently reviewing the first draft of the environmental impact report before it is released for public review.
Salk founded the institute in 1960, five years after he developed the first safe and effective polio vaccine. Renowned architect Louis Kahn designed the mirror-image, concrete research buildings that overlook the ocean. A marble courtyard runs between the buildings, like a runway into the water, and glass panels comprise the four laboratory walls to exploit the natural light.
In other business:
“¢ In city updates, an Eruv line will circle south University City as the Planning Commission approved the Chabad Jewish center’s proposal on June 8. The Eruv line, comprising poles linked with fishing wire, existing fences and natural canyon boundaries, will transform the area into a private domain under Jewish law, allowing orthodox Jews to carry items on the Sabbath within the boundary. The boundary will extend from Rose Canyon on the north, Route 52 to the south, Interstate 5 to the west and I-805 to the east.
“¢ Congresswoman Susan Davis opposes joint-use of Miramar Marine Corps Air Station with Lindbergh Field. Davis will meet with the community on Saturday, June 24, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Florence Riford Adult Center, 6811 La Jolla Blvd. For more information call (619) 280-5353.
“¢ UCPG meets the second Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. in Forum Hall above the Wells Fargo Bank, 4315 La Jolla Village Drive. However, on Tuesday, July 11, UCPG will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Garfield Theatre at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, 4126 Executive Drive, to vote on the EIR for the North/South Transportation Corridor Study. For more information, call Linda Colley, (858) 453-0435, or e-mail [email protected].