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Public Art Update and Park Design Elements to be Featured at Ruocco Park Public Meeting

Friday, 08 October 2010
Contact: Marguerite Elicone (619) 686-6222

Plans for Ruocco Park are on schedule and the public can learn how the elements are taking shape for the 3.3-acre park that will be developed near Seaport Village.

An update will be provided at a public meeting to be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 12, 2010, in the Board Room of the Port of San Diego Administration Building, 3165 Pacific Highway, San Diego (map).

This will be the sixth public meeting for the park. Dennis Otsuji, Ruocco Park's landscape architect and lead designer, will give an update on the design. He will include information on design elements that have been selected for the park, including plant materials, hardscape, architectural features, lighting and benches.

Roman de Salvo, the artist selected to integrate public art into the design, will also give an update on the public artwork.

Ruocco Park will be located on the southwest corner of West Harbor Drive and Pacific Highway at the former Harbor Seafood site. The design will include space for activities, events and gatherings, as well as seating, tables and quiet areas.

In November 2008, the Port received a $3.5 million grant from the San Diego Foundation, a leading San Diego charitable organization that manages the Lloyd and Ilse Ruocco Fund. Lloyd was a noted San Diego architect and considered the father of the modern architectural movement here. He and his wife, Ilse, were educational leaders in the city throughout the 1950s, '60s and'70s. More than 25 years ago, the couple established a trust that would provide money to build and maintain parks in the central area of San Diego. The Ruocco Fund was specifically established to help create a public waterfront park that would feature outstanding urban design.

The Board of Port Commissioners will consider issuing a Coastal Development Permit for the project in November. Construction is expected to begin in late 2011.