The Palisades - San Diego, CA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

The marker says, "Named the Palisades in 1935 for the California Pacific International Exposition, the area south of Spreckles Oran Pavillion was first developed as part of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Five state buildings were erected s well as a parade ground and U.S. Marine Corps camp to the south. Today, only the New Mexico State Building (Balboa Park Club) and the Kansas State Building (Hall of Nations/House of Italy) survive.

For the 1935 Exposition, architects Richard Requa (1881-1941) and Samuel Hamill (1903-1989) were commissioned to design several new attractions. Requa wanted the palisades buildings to "reman in historical harmony" with architect Bertram Goodhue's (1869-1924) Spanish Revival motif from 1915 without mimicking that style. Requa chose to utilize "the native architecture of the Southwest," designing the buildings in pueblo, Aztec, and Mean Styles.

The 1935 Palisades buildings included the House of Pacific Relations, Hollywood Motion Picture Hall of fam, Standard Oil Building, Palisades Café, Federal Building, California State Building, Ford Bowl, and Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries. The most unique building from 1935 was the Streamline Modern=style Ford Building - now the Air & Space Museum. Most of the funding for these buildings cam from the Works Process Administration (WPA).

At the heart of the Palisades was the Plaza de America, a landscaped formal garden. The focal point of the plaza was the Firestone Singing Color Fountain which featured jets of water colored with light and synchronized to music. The gardens and fountain were replaced by a parking lot after the exposition closed in 1936."

Group that erected the marker: Friends of Balboa Park Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: San Diego, CA URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   03/20/2019 bluesnote visited it