Naval Training Center Command Center- San Diego, California
Posted by: Metro2
N 32° 44.264 W 117° 12.871
11S E 479901 N 3622232
This building was the Command Center for the now-decommissioned San Diego Naval Training Center and is now a Visitors Center.
Waymark Code: WM7AM9
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/27/2009
Views: 5
This former military site now welcomes you to Liberty Station, a multi-use commercial, recreational and residential complex, after most of the former Naval Training Center (which opened in 1923) was decommissioned in 1997. In additional to assisting visitors, the center also has a few displays about the cultural and military history of the area.
From: (https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v54-2/pdf/v54-2mcclain.pdf)
"In 1993, the U.S. Navy announced its intention to close the NTC under terms of the Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. At that time, the NTC consisted of over three hundred buildings occupying almost 550 acres of land, plus training buildings at the 32nd Street Naval Station. The City of San Diego, led by Mayor Susan Golding (term in office 1992-2000), responded by entering into a master lease agreement with the Navy in 1995 to ensure that there would continue to be activity on the base. The city subleased buildings to film companies, nonprofit organizations, city departments, and small businesses. It also began negotiating with the Navy for the transfer of the bulk of the base to city ownership. On April 30, 1997 all active military use of the base ended, though the Navy retained some land for about 500 units of military housing.
On May 13, 1997 the city adopted a redevelopment plan for the NTC that called for, among other things, the development of housing opportunities, the acquisition of park and recreation facilities, the preservation of historically and architecturally significant buildings and landscaped areas, and the conservation of the environmental habitat at the base. Faced with the enormous cost of implementing the plan, the San Diego City Council decided to partner with an outside master developer. They held a competition and, in June 1999, selected the Corky McMillin Companies to develop the site.
The NTC was transferred from the Navy to the City of San Diego on May 3, 2000. It also was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district.