Fundraising has officially begun by proponents of a bold plan to transform an abandoned Liberty Station building into a regional bicycling hub.

A recent breakfast promoting the cycling plan held by bicycling enthusiast and NBA star Bill Walton at his home was attended by District 2 Councilmember Dr. Jennifer Campbell and ex-County supervisor Greg Cox.

“It was a great success,” said cycling project proponent Richard G. Opper of the bicycling hub event noting, “It was held to raise funds to pay for the design and architectural work that is now beginning.”

The proposed Liberty Station Bike Center, otherwise known as the Liberty Bike Commons, is on dedicated City parklands in Building 191. The property, once planned for demolition, straddles a major spur on the San Diego bike path system. Its 20-by-80 foot structure was the 191st building constructed at the former Naval Training Center.

Preliminary redesign work on Building 191 is being performed by local architect Chris Bitter of OBR Architecture, who has worked on several other Liberty Station projects. The abandoned Building 191 building is laid out as a long, thin rectangle.
The possibility of re-purposing Building 191 was the brainchild of Opper, an environmental attorney and former chairman of the NTC Foundation, in collaboration with prominent San Diego graphic designer, sculptor, and cycling enthusiast Ron Miriello.

The genesis of the project came when the pair were out on a bike ride. Miriello commented that he wished he had somewhere to exhibit 20 classic Italian bicycle frames. Opper replied he knew of an empty Liberty Station building. And the drive to create a regional cycling hub was on.
Opper said planning for the cycling project dates back to 2018. “It has been a really tough time to try funding a project like this,” he admitted adding, “COVID has really been a daunting challenge.”

In the meantime, Opper said groundwork is being laid for the project to proceed once construction funding has been found. “We got the building cleaned out,” he said, adding they’ve worked with both the local and federal government to get the permitting required to rehabilitate the former Navy building.

Of the prospective regional cycling center, Opper said, “Our goal is to promote bicycling and get community input into what goes into the center.”

Opper said converting Building 191’s approximately 6,000 square feet at a cost of about $300 a square foot translates into “around $2 million, plus other costs such as getting City permitting. The plans we’re developing now will really help focus on what the real costs are, and how long it (building conversion) is going to take.”

Added Opper: “It’s not likely to be a very long process for permitting a single-story in a long narrow building. I don’t think it will take more than an estimated nine months for construction from beginning to end, maybe a little longer.”