The new Broadway Cruise-ship terminal had it’s official dedication this weekend.  The LEED certified structure is now open to the public for special events such as banquets and weddings as long a cruise ship is not in port.  San Diego was in need of an overflow cruise ship terminal to supplement the current B Street Terminal.

This new structure has certainly been a controversial project as many downtown residents were and still are upset that the public Broadway Pier was built where the Broadway Square park was supposed to go as defined by the original North Embarcadero Visionary Plan.  The original ideas was that you could look west down Broadway from any point in downtown San Diego and you could see the Bay.  Now, with the new structure, you won’t  be able to see the bay and if you’re not familiar with San Diego, you won’t know it’s there unless you are looking at a map.  Condo owners at The Grande and Electra aren’t getting the views they saw renderings of on the CCDC website for years so many were disappointed.

The positives of the new building are that it has solar panels and creates it’s own energy.  It has no air conditioning, but rather giant fans and natural ventilation.  The structure can hold 2600 people and has walls of glass with great views to the bay and city.  It will be available to the public for events such as weddings, corporate events and festivals. 

The first cruise ship, the Holland America Rotterdam, arrives on Wednesday and there are plans to try to get an exception to the 100 yard distance rule for when a cruise ship is parked at the terminal.  It would be really sad if they had to have a 100 yard safe zone from the front of the ship as it would render that section of the North Embarcadero useless to the public when a ship is in port.

Please share your opinion.  Do you think this was a valuable use of city & port land and money?