Excitement Builds as Renovation of Iconic Balboa Park Structure Progresses
In the early 20th century, California was promoting redwood construction. The 1915 California-Panama Exposition was the perfect place to showcase its redwood lumber to the rest of the nation and the world.
This is why the Botanical Building in Balboa Park, built as part of said exposition, is made predominately from redwood.
A Tour & Trivia
We’d like to thank Wayne Donaldson, who co-led a recent construction tour of the Botanical Building for our staff and threw in some trivia, like the fact above. It’s exciting to see our architectural restoration design come to life and to learn more about the preservation of this majestic building.
Wayne, a preservation architect and former State Historic Preservation Officer of California, is part of our design team for the Botanical Building restoration, which is currently underway. EC Constructors is serving as the general contractor, and its owner, Jim Summers, was the other half of the duo leading our tour.
Rebuilding a San Diego Icon
“EC Constructors is doing great job producing high quality work,” said Platt/Whitelaw Principal Sandra Gramley, AIA, who along with Yolanda Velazco, LEED Green associate, and Sam Saltzman comprise our PWA team for the Botanical Building. “Curved, wood moldings are something contemporary framers don’t often have to deal with, so Jim and his team truly became craftsmen to form the wood to match the moldings from 1915.”
Also taking shape are the windows and the arcade across the front of the building, which are being recreated from the original design.
“The stucco arcade and windows were part of the original building but few people living today have seen them as part of this structure,” Sandra added.
The last renovation of the building happened in the 1950’s, which is when the windows and stucco arcade were removed.
Even More Trivia
The Botanical Building is one of just four structures from the 1915 exposition that was designed to remain in place after the exposition.
Another piece of trivia Wayne shared during our tour was this: The building wasn’t included in the original master plan for the park.
It not only got added to the plan, but the building is still here nearly 110 years later. What’s even more fascinating: it just had a refurbished, 2,000-pound cupola plopped on top of it.
Our readers may have seen press coverage of the cupola installation. The copper steeple and dome cupola is the same one first installed in 1915.
Men (& Women) at Work
Restoration work still pending includes window installation, some framing, wood trim, stucco application and molding work. Those keeping careful tabs will already know that the work is happening from the west end of the building and progressing to the east end.
The restoration work also involves preserving the iconic Moreton Bay Fig tree planted at the northeast corner of the building when it was originally constructed in 1915. Over time, the tree roots grew into the building! To make sure the tree can keep growing, modifications were made to the exterior facade.
While a few other mature plantings remained in place during construction, the City of San Diego will eventually repatriate and add new smaller plants that have been living off site while work progresses.
Then, Now & Gratitude
Over the decades, water damaged the wood and steel extensively and a remodel compromised the original design of the Botanical Building. For the past couple of years, we’ve provided architectural design services to restore this beloved structure and worked with a wonderful team to do so. It’s an incredible project to be part of, and we’re grateful to the City of San Diego for the opportunity.