Daily Business Report — Jan. 17, 2012

Veterans Memorial Park Proposal Presented Tonight

A proposal to build a Veterans Memorial Park with a controversial architectural structure in the shape of wings or sails on the Navy Pier will get an airing tonight at a meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the North Embarcadero Master Plan Amendment. The meeting will include a presentation by the Midway Museum on its proposal for the park and two architectural structures that would be up to 500 feet tall. The concept will be studied along with a number of other concepts. Tonight’s meeting will be from 6 to 8:30 in the training room at the Port Administration Building, 3165 Pacific Highway.

Midway Museum also is proposing a double-deck development with 500 parking spaces below an elevated park stretching the length of Navy Pier. An amphitheater would serve as a home for the San Diego Symphony. Advisory committee members are also to review a conceptual alignment for North Harbor Drive that narrows and slows traffic by channeling it to Pacific Highway. The conceptual alignment includes a mix of different traffic concepts that create a more pedestrian-friendly environment and increase public access to San Diego Bay, according to museum representatives.

The Midway Midway’s lease agreement with the Port District and the coastal development permit that it was granted by the California Coastal Commission requires the museum provide a plan and project description for a park on Navy Pier no later than Oct. 1.

The Citizens Advisory Committee was formed to assist the Port as it prepares a North Embarcadero Port Master Plan Amendment. The master plan is a guide for future Port development and to ensure that projects and developments within the Port are consistent with the California Coastal Act. Midway Museum representatives presented their proposal to the Board of Port Commissioners in November and during public workshops in November and December.