A botanical building in San Diego is a
joke, so one author wrote about the concept of creating a structure for the
Panama-California Exposition of 1915. "A climate which will produce
Poinsettias, the tender Bignonias, the Begonia, and the
Bougainvillea in
such profusion outdoors surely needs no sheltered buildings to produce an
array of flowers, which seemed as if confined in a hospital for
observation," said
Eugen Neuhaus in his
1916 book, The San Diego Garden Fair.
Over 90 years after it opened in San
Diego's Balboa Park, Botanical Building has persisted despite criticism,
disrepair and even transformation during two world wars as a military
training facility. Passionate about one of San Diego's most popular
attractions, artists laud the building and its reflecting pools as the most
beautiful subject in the entire city to paint, and tourists (millions of
them) from around the globe, pop out their cameras to take a picture of the
Lath Palace, as it was once known. The lattice structure with colorful
flowers and reflecting water gardens has delighted San Diegans and travelers
for nearly a century now. And, throughout decades of political and economic
change, the citizens haven't wavered about the building's importance―"It
makes us feel good and we want to keep it, no matter what," they say!
Balboa Park is an integral part of San
Diego, a California Beach community of around a million people that enjoys
year-round warm, sunny climate ideal for growing a variety of flowers.
Botanical Building is one of the city's most attractive flower gardens in
Balboa Park, a gem in the heart of San Diego. There are many flower
gardens in the rambling 1,200 acre-Balboa Park but one of the most popular
gardens is located in front of the Botanical Building. Amazingly, the
San Diego Park and Recreation Department manages and maintains the grounds
of this spectacular venue, a testimony to the skill and knowledge of staff
who tend to the variety of flora and fauna.
Over 15,000 trees and 350 different species
in Balboa Park highlight and provide context to the lovely Botanical
Building. You cannot just arrive at the building. Entry requires walking
past a variety of trees and plants on lush, green expansive lawns. This
horticultural paradise offers a backdrop for the world-class cultural
attractions and even restaurants in Balboa Park, all located across the
street from the world-famous San Diego Zoo.
Botanical
Building was the largest wood lath structure in the world when it was built
in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition. Located on the Prado, west of
the Museum of Art, it contains about 2,100 permanent tropical plants along
with changing seasonal flowers. Botanical Building provides a step back in
time as you stroll past a lovely water garden called the Lily Pond. Lined
with cement walkways, the Lily Pond is one of the most photographed gardens
in all of Balboa Park.
Lilly Pond is part of two reflecting ponds,
La Lagunita and La Laguna. The larger pond that reflects the Botanical
Building is considered by many artists to be the most picturesque view
in the City. Tourists and local visitors instinctively know where to stand
and point their film or digital cameras for great photographs next to the
pond. Attracted to the 193-by-43 foot pond with pink, yellow or
purple-flower lily pad blooms that seem to float atop the water, people
stand and smile with the brown, lathe Botanical Building framed in the
background. (The pools contain exotic water lilies and lotus which bloom
spring through fall.)
When the Botanical Building was first
conceived by Alfred D. Robinson, founder and president of the San Diego
Floral Society, for the Panama-California Exposition of 1915, the proposed
structure was a Spanish-Renaissance palace of massive size and height.
Architectural renderings included a 600-feet square by 100-feet high
structure with an ornate Spanish-Renaissance front and lateral wings. The
prominent lath work visible today was a minor treatment of the original
concept. Band concerts were to take place in a central court with an
oblong pool in front of the building.
The Botanical Building was not the first large lath enclosure built in the
United States. There was a lath structure at the Huntington Garden in San
Marino, California and a shady garden structure, designed by Josep Fontsere
i Mestre for the Universal Exposition of 1888 in Barcelona, Spain. That
elongated building used louvers (laths) to shade subtropical plants.
Balboa Park's Botanical Building
opened on January 1, 1915 and was billed as "the largest lath house in the
world," measuring 250-ft. long, 75-ft. wide, and 60-ft. tall. The
building had three names. Its unofficial name, which was soon discarded, was
Horticultural Building, its official name was Botanical Building, and its
popular name was Lath Palace. When opened in 1915, white stucco arches ran
the full length of the front, suggesting a lower story. Five arches, forming
an entrance, projected forward in the middle. Two of these arches, on left
and right sides, were topped by octagonal Persian-style domes. These served
as entrances while intervening arches were enclosed by glass panes. Of the
original Lath Palace and Greenhouse, the Lath Palace is all that remains
today.
The glass panes were replaced by redwood
dowels in a two-year renovation 37 years later. The new design treatments
let in light while offering seclusion in the manner of harems in Moslem
countries. The upper central section is marked off from the barrel vaults of
side wings by a large arch enclosing straight vertical laths. A dome with a
small open cupola and steel trusses support 70,000 feet of redwood lath,
which is curved to conform to the shape of the building.
Learning curve: In 1915 the interior contained palms, bamboos, banana
trees and other tropical-themed plants that were not potted. Birds such as
thrushes and canaries inhabited bird cages hidden among the larger plants.
The plants were watered by hand or by overhead pipes equipped with spray
nozzles. The bamboo and other plants grew so rapidly that some were removed
or cut down only two years later.
A steel and glass greenhouse was concealed behind the Lath Palace so that it
was only visible from inside the building. Windows were glazed and the
atmosphere was humid. Tropical plants that astonished visitors to
expositions included unique ferns, Philodendron Anthuriums, water
lilies and a small pond in front of the Lath Palace with lotuses. Faced with
the enormous number of plants in the greenhouse, a larger pond in front of
the Botanical Building was required. La Lagunita was the answer. It stood
approximately 43 feet wide and 50 feet long, separated from a larger 250,000
gallon pond called La Laguna (43 feet wide and 195 feet long).
Both lagoons were designed to be reflecting. During World War I La Laguna
was converted into a swimming pool so sailors at a Naval Training Station,
then located in Balboa Park, could learn to swim. A cement liner was placed
on the bottom. After the war, both ponds reverted to original uses. Planting
followed the plan that had been established for the 1915-16
Panama-California Exposition. World War II entailed another major change
when the depth of the big pond was increased by two feet and resurfaced for
use as a swimming pool for patients at a Naval Hospital that had taken over
former Exposition buildings and grounds. Diving was not allowed. After the
war, fly casting and bait casting were permitted until a fly casting pool
opened in Morley Field in 1949.
Threats to remove the building after the
war were rebuffed by citizens who said that looking at the structure and
reflecting pools lifted their spirits like nothing else could. Maintenance
issues such as mildew, termites and rust have been perpetual problems. Pigeons and
people have provided additional problems. Sadly, people take plants by the roots
and as cuttings, constantly diminishing the quality of the gardens. Though
expensive to maintain, commitment to constant, quality care has been funded
more often than not
during its 90+ years. While the original color of the redwood structure has
changed many times and the size and shape of the building and reflecting
pools have been modified, the Botanical Building continues to delight
tourists and locals who need time for a bit of reflection.
Inside the Botanical Building that spans
250 feet in length by 75 feet wide and 60 feet tall, you'll see broken
patterns of shade that gingerly grace the tropical plants and exotic flowers
in this lovely space. Open Fridays-Wednesdays (closed Thursdays and
City holidays) from 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. Admission is free. Balboa Park is
located at 1549 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101. Call: 619-239-0512.
balboapark.org
Note: San Diego's Balboa Park was
ranked in 2004 as the world's 13th best park by the nonprofit Project
for Public Spaces. Best Parks in the world include: #1 Plaza Hidalgo,
Mexico City; #2 Luxembourg Gardens, Paris; #3 Central Park, New York,
NY; #4 Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY; #5 Jardin des Tuileries, Paris; #6
Parc Guell, Barcelona; #7 Kungsträdgården, Stockholm; #8 Palais Royal,
Paris; #9 Place des Vosges, Paris; #10 oston Public Garden, Boston, MA;
#11 Parque del Retiro, Madrid; #12 Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona; #13
Balboa Park, San Diego, CA; #14 Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA; #15
Saint James Park, London.
