Downtown San Diego to Expand Convention Center…

Wondering where they are going to put the new expansion at the San Diego Convention Center and what becomes of the waterfront park that is there now?  Check out the rendering below that shows one of the designs that could be what becomes of our prized waterfront.

Changes coming to Convention Center San Diego

The largest changes are that Park Boulevard which will soon cross the railroad tracks and connect Balboa Park to the San Diego Bay will actually go under the new convention center.  The park moves up to the top of the building that will bridge the current convention center all the way to the Hilton Bayfront.  There are plans to add more parking and a lot more convention space.

The big question is where do the monies come from to build the expansion?  The city already knows the current Convention Center has paid for itself almost three fold, but Carl Demaio is looking to squeeze as much from the Center City Development Corporation as possible.  The city will have to issue bonds or find alternative ways to finance the project. 

This is a controversial issue because we have conventions like Comicon that generate millions of dollars of revenue for the City of San Diego and local businesses threatening to leave if we don’t expand, but the city is broke and can hardly stand on its own two legs due to pension plan issues and mis-allocation of funds from years back.

Do we go for it and expand or play it safe and watch Comicon go elsewhere?  What do you think?