Foundations initiate study of Balboa Park's financing options: analysis would be used to consider merits of a citizens' advisory group.

Whether the future of Balboa Park's administration will stay with the city of San Diego, change over to a private conservancy or become a private/public partnership is a question high on the agendas of regional public interest groups and local charity organizations.

Park use by locals and tourists has outgrown its funding model, a situation made clear by the city's documentation of $102 million required for park maintenance and $157 million required for projects in the park's master plan.

Now, three charity foundations are funding what is touted as an "academic" third-party study to determine Balboa Park's financial needs.

The San Diego Foundation, the Legler Benbough Foundation and the Parker Foundation hope to have results from the study in six months, said Paul Meyer, chairman of the Balboa Park advisory committee of the San Diego Foundation.

During the past five years, the San Diego Foundation has granted $7.5 million to nonprofit organizations in Balboa Park. The foundation manages $523 million in 1,268 separate funds.

Meyer said the study is an effort to get reliable data as a basis for the city to make future decisions on how the park can get funds needed to keep fully maintained. A city-appointed citizen advisory commission, made up of various city interests, could eventually be the vehicle to look at alternative solutions, he said.

"We'll seek experts on park operations to help us understand Balboa Park in a way that's more than anecdotal, something that is really of scholarly quality without an agenda behind it," Meyer said. "We really want to bring the facts of where we stand right now."

A recent article in the San Diego Union-Tribune cited a study by the Legler Benbough Foundation, which called for donations aimed at the park's centennial in 2015. It also mentioned private/public conservancies that helped to restore Central Park in New York City and Forest Park in St. Louis.

"We're not in the business of saying the solution is a conservancy," said San Diego Foundation's Meyer. "We don't know what the solution should be."

Peter Ellsworth, president of the Legler Benbough Foundation, added, "There's an interest on the part of the foundation to get the necessary facts together so anybody can act. No one can start making changes on something as big as Balboa Park without having the facts."

Among those facts, he said, are the city's bonding capacity, tax questions and answers to why people go to the park. "There's a whole raft of questions that have to be answered before we get a handle on what the deficiencies are," Ellsworth said.

Meanwhile, skepticism lingers over whether there is enough motivation among private donors in the city to supply all of the park's needs.

The issue is no small one, for even organizers of a new library in the nearby East Village neighborhood have found the donor well run dry.

"We can't get a library built with private money," said Rachel Laing, spokeswoman for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. "The city paid half, but no one is stepping up to the plate."

Laing said the three largest private donors in San Diego have been Irwin Jacobs of Qualcomm Inc., David Copley of the Copley Press and financial services entrepreneur Ernest Rady.

And a recent Union-Tribune editorial cautioned that a continued city role in any private/public operation of Balboa Park might leave the parkvulnerable to the city diverting park assets and private donations to shore up its own deficits. The city, the editorial noted, has a history of diverting money it has access to, to remedy its own fiscal shortages.

Meanwhile, Kevin Klein, spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders, said that these days there's not a lot moving forward on the Balboa Park issue at the city. He said the city's Park & Recreation Department has discussed the idea of a conservancy for the park, but that, "It's simply just discussion; no formal plan has been set out."

A Matter Of Growth

Meyer of the San Diego Foundation noted that during the existence of large municipal parks like Central Park, Forest Park and Balboa Park, their surrounding metropolitan areas have grown, and their use by locals has radically increased over the years.

In San Diego, he noted the park serves not only the city, but also the county. That increase in regional and tourist use has boosted the costs of managing the park. Nevertheless, he said, the city alone has continued to shoulder the financial burden of running and maintaining it. Citing financial shortfalls for the park, he said, "It's not a criticism of the city. It's not likely any major city can continue alone to solve the (park) problem. They have too many demands for other civil services like police and fire."

Meyer said other cities that have private/public conservancies in place to run their parks are structured according to the unique needs of each area. "I can almost guarantee our solution will be different than any other city," he said. "It has to reflect our history and our culture. There is no cookie-cutter model."

If a private/public model is set up for Balboa Park, he added, it would have to get final approval from the city as the park's lead governmental agency.

A private/public conservancy wouldn't give the park away to the private sector, said Meyer, noting that any contract for park administration can be decided by a city commission which can build in controls to ward off the potential for commercialization.

"No one is in this to give away the park or to commercialize the park," Meyer said. "It is really to solve a financial problem."

A meeting organized by Citizens Coordinate for Century 3, or C-3, consisting of county residents working on regional planning issues, was held in late January to discuss the Balboa Park conservancy. The meeting drew about 75 people, and speakers included City Councilwoman Toni Atkins and urban designer Michael Stepner.

Requests were made for suggestions on solving the issue With input from all quarters of the city, and for care in changes made to the city Park & Recreation Department's role in park maintenance.

Judy Swink, who sits on the C-3 board, said the meeting helped to spur wide-ranging discussions on how to better fund and run the park.

"The whole point is to make sure we are drawing out all issues and questions that need to be considered in coming up with a decision of whether a conservancy is appropriate here," she said. "And if it is, what form it will take."

Swink noted that the Balboa Park Committee has put the conservancy question as a fixture on its agenda for public discussion at its weekly meetings held at 6 p.m. every Thursday at the Balboa Club in the park.

Katy McDonald, deputy director of external affairs for the San Diego Museum of Art, agreed that gathering input from the community should be part of the solution for the park's administration.

"We think it's worth considering and studying all options for Balboa Park to maintain and improve this fabulous cultural resource," McDonald said. "Forward-thinking about its future is something we all should be applauding."

Mark Larson is a freelance writer for the San Diego Business Journal.