This old postcard above, showing the Navy’s office building just south of the Broadway Pier, illustrates the historical headquarters of the Pacific Fleet. Some new Marina District residents and old Mission Valley editorial writers argue the area should be turned into a park. If they didn’t have thick hides, Navy brass might be insulted by the pretense that the world’s mightiest military must retreat to more secure quarters at the 32nd Street Naval Station. Removing Navy office workers from Downtown would amount to the largest exodus from the Central Business District since the Union-Tribune abandoned the inner city in 1973.

Undaunted, Doug Manchester is negotiating to develop office buildings for Navy and civilian personnel, hotel rooms and landscaped open space on the 14 acres between Broadway and Seaport Village, opening view and pedestrian corridors that have been blocked for decades.

“The public hearing process has been a healthy and educational exercise,” says Perry Dealy, president of Manchester Development. “We’re working feverishly to reduce the bulk and create more open space with public amenities such as art and fountains while preserving one of the most important workforces in the CBD.”

Not including the 1,200 acres of Balboa Park, Downtown residents (and visitors from Mission Valley) enjoy nearly 79 acres of park, with more than 61 additional acres in the planning stages. Of the existing open space, more than 34 acres are immediately along the waterfront from Eighth Avenue to the vicinity of Solar Turbines. Of the open space in planning stages, more than 22 acres would be added to waterfront parks, which would be, of course, adjacent to thousands of acres of open space called San Diego Bay.