There was a party going on late last month as the Super Bowl drew hundreds of thousands of visitors and locals alike to the urban core for some serious celebrating.

The fun went on despite NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s statement that the Super Bowl would not return to San Diego unless a new stadium was built. Not only locals found the comment outrageous. During the game, ABC television announcers John Madden and Al Michaels suggested the game be moved here permanently. “What’s he thinking?” Madden asked after Michaels called the commissioner’s statement the scariest thing he heard all week. Reporters around the country echoed those comments, even in sunny Orlando where Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel wrote “As far as I’m concerned, the league could make this the permanent site. But then we couldn’t go to Detroit and freeze, could we? Oh, yes. A Super Bowl in Detroit. In 2006.”

Meanwhile, Downtown and Gaslamp Quarter merchants — well, maybe aside from some fine art galleries — could not have been happier.

“I think we exposed some restaurants and stores down here that some (local) people didn’t know existed,” says Caryl Iseman, a real estate agent with Associated Realtors on Fourth Avenue and a member of the Gaslamp Quarter Association. “In their minds they probably thought there was still a bit of seediness because they hadn’t been here lately.” Her office stayed open until 9 each night and drew many people curious about living Downtown.” Does she expect to make any money from the event? “Absolutely,” Iseman says. “All it takes is one (sale).”

— Tim McClain
(photos/lambertphoto.com)