Pechanga Arena designated as a local historical resource
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego’s Pechanga Arena has been designated as a historic resource.
On Thursday, the city of San Diego’s Historical Resources Board voted unanimously to give the 58-year-old venue, which is also known as the San Diego International Sports Arena, historical recognition for its role in shaping the Midway District after World War II.
The Historical Resources Board Chair Tim Hutter recused himself from the vote on the arena.
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The historic resource designation comes in conjunction with city’s efforts to understand the environmental impacts of the arena’s planned demolition for the planned Midway District redevelopment, known as Midway Rising.
The designation should not preclude the city from advancing with the planned demolition of the arena to build a new 16,000-set venue with the development. However, it may require additional steps for city officials, who will now need to look at alternatives to reduce impacts to the site.
The San Diego International Sports Arena was built in 1966 on a city-owned parcel of land located at what is now 3500 Sports Arena Blvd. The city acquired the land from the federal government at the end of 1954.
According to the historians who prepared a document on the arena’s significance, the oval-shaped sporting and entertainment venue replaced a portion of the Frontier Housing Project, which was an initiative to provide temporary public housing for workers during World War II.
Following the war, San Diego officials began looking at ways to attract professional sports franchises to expand the city’s economic ventures into new industries. The Sports Arena was ultimately an important catalyst for the Midway District’s transformation into an entertainment and commercial hub, historians added.
Over the years, the venue played host to a number of high-profile musicians past and present alike. Names like The Doors, Diana Ross & The Supremes, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Taylor Swift all stopped at the venue. Its inaugural concert was James Brown on Feb. 18, 1967.
It was also home to some of the city’s first professional sports teams, including the San Diego Gulls and the now-Houston Rockets. According to historians, this significance is entwined with Robert Breitbard, the Gulls owner who was instrumental in making the arena’s construction.
The arena was designed in the New Formalist style of architecture, specifically modeled after the now-destroyed Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, historians added.
With the historical designation, the Midway Rising development team — comprised of developers Zephyr, Chelsea Investment Corp. and Legends, as well as The Kroenke Group as its principal investor — will need to specifically address the historical impact of demolishing the arena in its environmental impact report on the project.
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A draft of the environmental impact report, which the city council will need to approve, is expected sometime in the coming months. Then, city leaders will be able to finalize a development deal and lease with the Midway Rising group for the project.
As currently proposed, the development would include the new stadium, 2,000 affordable housing units, a park and other mixed-use spaces on a 48.5-acre plot of land. If approved, it would be the largest affordable housing project in California history.
A potential groundbreaking for the project likely will not come until 2025 at the earliest.
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