To provide expertise, advocacy and resources to envision, enhance and sustain Balboa Park for all visitors in partnership with the City of San Diego and in collaboration with other organizations in the Park and the community.
Description
The Balboa Park Conservancy was formed in 2011 as a public-benefit 501(c)3 nonprofit organization to raise funds, develop public-private partnerships, and collaborate with Balboa Park stakeholders to address sustainability and accessibility needs in the Park. The impetus behind the Balboa Park Conservancy’s formation was a growing backlog of deferred maintenance projects at a time when the city’s limited resources, exacerbated by the Great Recession, were proving inadequate to properly maintain and care for the 1,200-acre park.
Since its formation, the Forever Balboa Park has worked with the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department and other partners to plant more than 500 trees throughout Balboa Park, activate the Plaza de Panama into a vibrant hub of community activity through creative placemaking, and expand the volunteer corps to include Tree Stewards, Garden Stewards and Park Ambassadors. The Conservancy has developed and uses data driven tools like the Tree Inventory, Cultural Landscape Report and Balboa Park Benefits Study to advocate for the greater good of the park and help prioritize key projects.
