Ocean Beach takes natural tack for community's welcome sign

Press : October 16, 2006

San Diego Union Tribune, authored by Amy Oakes

Hillcrest has a sign spanning University Avenue. Normal Heights has a similar one, as do a few other neighborhoods.

In Ocean Beach, they want to keep it natural.

Rather than a big sign arching across a major thoroughfare, residents want a small park with a signature tree to welcome people to their community.

"What fits Ocean Beach is a natural statement," said Curt Lutz, executive director of the Ocean Beach Community Development Corp.

The nonprofit organization, devoted to improving northern Ocean Beach, is overseeing the project. The nearly 10,000-square-foot park will be built at the northwest corner of Sunset Cliffs and West Point Loma boulevards, on the site of a former pizza parlor.

To help pay for it, the nonprofit is selling name tiles and bricks that will be used for a retaining wall along the pathway. Tiles cost $1,000 each and bricks are $200 each, Lutz said.

"Local businesses are already stepping up," he said.

There have been a few major contributions to get the estimated $700,000 project going.

The Hervey Family Fund at the San Diego Foundation has donated $100,000. And San Diego City Councilman Kevin Faulconer has allocated $100,000 of his district's Community Development Block Grant funds for the project.

The park is part of an overall design and improvement plan, created in the late 1990s, for north Ocean Beach, Lutz said. There is already a small wooden Ocean Beach sign visible to those entering the neighborhood on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.

But, as residents and business owners met to talk about how they wanted to improve the northern entryway into Ocean Beach, the idea of the park surfaced. Other suggestions, which have been done, included planting trees, painting light poles and installing benches and trash containers.

The park would not only be a visible marker for Ocean Beach, but it would also link the community to Robb Field and San Diego River Park. Currently there is limited pedestrian access to the parks from the neighborhood, Lutz said.

The park plan includes wheelchair-accessible walkways to the River Park and Robb Field. The walkway to the River Park would be linked with a city-built path, Lutz said.

The corporation purchased the land for the park in 1999 for $525,000 using Community Development Block Grant money and donations. It was given to the city in 2002 and designated as parkland.

The old pizza parlor has since been demolished, leaving the lot vacant. The park will be built in three phases, as money becomes available, Lutz said.

The fundraising campaign was kicked off in June with the announcement of the Hervey Fund donation and federal block grant allocation. The corporation hopes to raise $500,000 by June 30.

Mindy Pellissier, who lives in the neighborhood and owns a do-it- yourself dog wash in Ocean Beach, said the park will be a major improvement to her neighborhood. She has been involved in developing the entryway plan since the start.

"It's just a wonderful way to welcome people to the community," she said.

Those interested in contributing to an effort to build a small park to welcome people to an Ocean Beach neighborhood can call the Ocean Beach Community Development Corp. at (619) 224-1648 or by e- mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .