Balboa Park Club - San Diego, CA - WPA Projects on Waymarking.com

Photos taken on 29 October 2022. The building is a two story stucco structure originally built and funded by the state of New Mexico for use in the 1915 Worlds Fair which was held here in Balboa Park. In 1935, it was remodeled for the worlds fair which again was in Balboa Park. During WWI, the north wing was used as officer barracks and the rest of the building was used as for instructions (classroom).

The plaque says, "The Balboa Park Club was designed as the New Mexico State Building by Colorado architect Isaac Hamon Rapp for the 1915 Panam California Exposition. Inspired by the 300-year-old San Esteban del Rey mission church at Acoma Pueblo, it featured a Pueblo Revival style design. New Mexico sold the building to the City of San Diego for $3,200 when the Exposition ended.

San Diego architect Richard Requa remodeled the building as the Palace of Education for the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition. The central patio was roofed over and a large exhibit hall added. The Works Progress Administration commissioned an interior fountain sculpture. The Four Cornerstones of American Democracy, by Frederick Schweigand. The WPA also commissioned a Belle Baranceanu Mural "The Progress of Man”. The Exposition Cactus Garden suggested by horticulturist Kate Sessions, and planted behind the building, can still be seen. In 1949 the city made further changes, renamed the building the Balboa Park Club, and designed it for a teen club and for social events.

WWI: Following the U.S. entry into the war, the Marine Corps used the north wing for officer barracks and the Santa Fe Room for Instruction.

WWII: The building was converted into a temporary annex to the naval hospital with a dispensary and mess hall. The Santa Fe Room became the "Camp Kidd Officers' Club,” honoring Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, the first U.S. Navy flag officer killed in action during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor."

Project type: Park structure/building (other than lodge) Date built or created: 1915 Location: Balboa Park City: San Diego Condition: Pristine condition Website for additional information: Not listed

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