The San Diego Convention Center
Now that San Diego has returned to normal since all the tourists have gone home, it’s actually possible to visit places that are rather inaccessible during tourist season (May 15 to September 15).
When I went downtown this past weekend for the San Diego Quilt Convention (see Quilts from the 2012 San Diego Quilt Convention), the place seemed deserted. That allowed me to get some pretty good pictures of the San Diego Convention Center.
The San Diego Convention Center, at 111 West Harbor Drive, has 615,701 square feet of space, making it the 24th largest convention center in the nation. In terms of number of convention attendees, it comes in ninth. Capacity is 125,000, which makes you wonder where they put the extra 25,000-100,000 who show up for ComicCon each year.
Construction began in March 1987 and was completed in November 1989. An expansion which doubled the size of the original convention center was completed in November 2001. Another expansion is scheduled to start soon and would add another 400,000 square feet of space, making it the seventh largest.
The 1996 Republic National Convention was held at the San Diego Convention Center. The nominees for President and Vice-President, Bob Dole and Jack Kemp, lost the election that year, just like Mitt Romney and Ryan Paul are going to lose this year (just had to throw that in there; Obama 2012, Romney 1040).
If you ever come to San Diego for a convention, to see relatives, or to simply vacation, and you fly into San Diego International Airport, sit on the left side of the airplane. The view of downtown as you fly into the airport is awesome. Flying out doesn’t make any different because you’ll head out over the Pacific Ocean. However, if prevailing winds are high “offshore winds” (Santa Ana winds in other words), you’ll take off to the east, and for that you’ll want to sit on the right side.
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Posted on September 18, 2012, in Manmade, Out & About, Photos and tagged san diego convention center pictures. Bookmark the permalink. 15 Comments.
What an amazing building. One thing I wonder when I see this sort of thing is who will be walking in them a thousand years from now the way we visit historic sites. And of course, the other question is, “Will they last that long?”
I’m visualizing Planet of the Apes because I think the Middle East will start World War III, and probably in my lifetime.
Hi,
I’ve never been to San Diego, but you’ve just awaken a desire in me to see the city. The convention center looks marvelous. Thanks for some very interesting pictures of it.
Ciao,
Patricia
When you get here, let me know. I’ll play Docent for a day.
I nominated you for 8 awards! http://maryannemistretta.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/8-more-blog-awards-for-me-and-right-back-to-fellow-bloggers/
Eight awards! Mama mia! Thank you!
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I’ve seen the outside of the convention center several times while visiting Seaport Village but have never gone inside. Great photos!
amazing shots.. i particularly like the 9th photo (circles) ..
And yet the picture does not do justice to the view in person.
You have done some of your best work with these photos, Russel. Fabulous! One could get a good days work-out on those stairs.
Blessings ~ Maxi
My friends often make fun of me because I’ll always take the stairs rather than an escalator or elevator. I usually beat them, too!……..lol
Great pix, but a lot of us think it’s not the prettiest building!
Downtown or in all of San Diego County? A couple of my favorites are Emerald Plaza and the Geisel Library at UCSD.
I love all the shots. they represent Convention Center really well.