The analysis concluded that the current facility, built in 1958, does not support the growing city staff and modern standards. Four city departments are currently operating outside the single-story building, working from two nearby trailers.
Expansion for the La Mesa Civic Center has been one step forward, two steps back for more than two decades.
However, the city will be taking yet another step forward with a brand new City Hall and a resolution to expand the La Mesa Library.
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According to an August Space Needs Analysis, the city expects to break ground on a brand-new city hall in spring 2029, with an anticipated opening date of spring 2031. The analysis concluded that the current facility, built in 1958, does not support the growing city staff and modern standards.
Four city departments are currently operating outside the single-story building, working from two nearby trailers.
The library has been operating out of a “temporary” space since 2008, when the city tore down the old, smaller library to build a new police station that is still in use today.
In addition to a new two-story City Hall, the analysis also blueprinted a parking structure, residential apartments and an expansion of the library into the post office.
‘Delays’ are not part of the equation
City Manager Greg Humora has become an expert on the 25-year history of Civic Center redevelopment, and says “delays” are not part of the equation.
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“It’s been going on for quite some time, and I’m happy to tell the story,” Humora said. “I know people get very passionate and concerned, and it’s never fast enough. It’s never fast enough for me, either. But there are steps that we have to go through. Not everything is under our control. And we’re trying to make do as fast as we can, and the city council has been super supportive.”
Discussions on Civic Center facility limitations began in 2000, as outlined by a March 2000 master plan, when the city began to evaluate space usage of abandoned buildings.
In 2004, Proposition D was passed in La Mesa, which provided a $25 million bond to upgrade the fire and police departments – a massive overhaul.
A temporary fire station was built in the abandoned Helix Water District while a new station, administrative building and Emergency Operations Center were constructed over the old fire department site. A new, temporary library was built nearby while the old, smaller library was demolished and the new police department was built over it.
Due to state requirements, slow contracts, state/county funding issues and developer partner lawsuits, the affordable housing apartment building atop the old police site just opened for residents this past July — a full 15 years after the new police department opened.
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Getting around to the city hall and library needs
While new facilities for the fire and police departments were completed in 2006 and 2010, respectively, expansions and redevelopments for City Hall and the La Mesa Library are just now getting underway.
“So, it took us quite some time to get back settled on our feet, where we’re able to get back working on the Civic Center, this part of it,” Humora said. “And so now we’re on the next phase, since all that other stuff is done and taken care of.”
City Hall redevelopment is still in the planning phase, with a projected cost of $35.7 million and proposals to add more conference rooms, meeting rooms, bathrooms, storage and office space.
The proposed Civic Center redevelopment map, from page 10 of the Space Needs Analysis. (Photo courtesy HMC Architects)
The current plan also includes the relocation of the post office to a smaller, attached space, which would allow the library to expand into the post office space currently attached to their building.
This proposed relocation comes after the city council approved the library’s expansion into the post office in 2023, the cheapest of three redevelopment outlines presented by the Library Task Force. However, the post office has not yet agreed to move, and expansions for the library cannot begin until City Hall construction has been completed.
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As a result, the La Mesa Library community is passionate about the subject, yet grateful fo the city’s transparency.
“I appreciate [the city’s] willingness to listen and to consider the idea of a larger library,” said Sheila Dowe, a volunteer at the Friends of La Mesa Library Bookstore.
“And I would love for the library to be renovated at the same time, like concurrently. Because, as it stands now, the library will wait until the Civic Center. I didn’t know how old the Civic Center is, but it would be great if we could have the library a little bit sooner.”
Sheila Dowe has been volunteering at the Friends of the La Mesa Library Bookstore for five years. (Photo by Calista Stocker/Times of San Diego)
As approved by the La Mesa City Council in 2021, a Library Task Force was created to explore expansion options for the library.
The Task Force concluded in early 2022 and presented its Library Needs Analysis and Library Feasibility Study to the City Council, which outlined three potential options for expansion.
In July 2023, the city council approved option number 2 to renovate the interior library space and expand into the attached post office, adding 6,395 square feet. At a price tag of nearly $5.9 million, this was the cheapest option compared to vertical expansion or the construction of a brand new library facility.
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La Mesa Library gets solid traffic
Given that the La Mesa Library is the fourth most visited library in San Diego County, some patrons are unhappy with the council’s decision.
However, Humora says that going back on the decision is unlikely, unless the post office refuses relocation and the city council changes its mind.
“Given the statistics we just heard that this is one of the most used libraries in the whole county system, why do we have to live with a second-hand kind of building and convert it to be a library?” Jack Shu asked at a Friends of the La Mesa Library community meeting.
“I want a library that looks like a library, with buildings and structures that are designed in that fashion, because that’s how libraries really work. Not making a multi-purpose building converted into a library-type space, which architecturally just doesn’t work very well.”
The La Mesa Library hosts many accessible community events, from daytime concerts to crafting, but does not currently have any study spaces, community rooms or multipurpose rooms.
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“The La Mesa Library is consistently standing room only for events, and many programs ‘book out’ within an hour of registration opening due to lack of space,” said Leslie Stump, co-chair of publicity and promotions for the Friends of La Mesa Library. “Some programs and community partnerships have had to be turned away or postponed simply because the current facility cannot accommodate them.”
While volunteer Dowe would love a new library, she hopes that any expansion will bring these much-needed spaces.
“I would love to get a bigger area for the bookstore,” she said. “All the money we bring in goes to the library, so the more we can make, the more we can donate. So, I’d love a bigger space for that. For the unhoused, [it would] be nice to have a couple of long tables where people could sit, maybe play games.”
Beyond space maximization and usefulness, the community generally wants to see the library continue to be an inviting and creative third space.
The same goes for City Hall. Humora says it will be.
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“If you look at this current City Hall, I believe it’s a mid-century modern architectural style. It’s kind of like a house… So it’s low, one story, tall roofs, but it’s inviting. It has a nice door in the front. The lobbies are a really good space,” Humora said.
“And we wanted the public to feel invited, still. We still wanted it to feel like a home. No one wants to come to city hall, but if you have to come to city Hall, we want it to be an inviting place where people can conduct business, feel comfortable, and then the employees have a nice space, too.”
Help needed to get projects paper and into the ground
To get the City Hall and library redevelopment projects off paper and on the ground, Humora said he needs everyone’s help.
“So far, we’ve gotten everyone’s help by passing Proposition D back in 2004,” he said. “The community was a big help by passing Proposition L renewal in November, that passed by 81%. That’s our three-quarter-cent sales tax that keeps our funding stable, so we’re able to proceed and move forward with projects like this.”
However, there are still a lot of unknowns, as the city looks to potentially expand the parking district and increase meter rates to offset project costs, and building affordable housing on the Civic Center site. Nothing has been set in stone yet.
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“Those are puzzles we need to figure out still,” Humora said. “But again, we’re lucky. We have land. None of the existing library parking would be impacted during that construction. They’ve got Allison Avenue open, there’s parking next to the library, none of that would be touched … There’s ways to maneuver the puzzle around.”
To stay updated on the progress of the Civic Center redevelopment, Humora recommends checking the city’s website and signing up for their biweekly newsletter.
San Diego will put off issuing citations for paid parking in Balboa Park for about one month while improvements are made, but Mayor Todd Gloria says the new system is functioning well and being “actively adopted.”
In a long and harshly worded memo released Thursday, Gloria said recent calls by City Council members to suspend the program were politically motivated and examples of bad governance and erratic decision-making.
Gloria also deflected blame for the chaotic way enforcement began Monday, when city officials raced to put stickers about resident discounts on parking kiosks and lobbied a vendor to deliver crucial missing signs.
The mayor said the council had “shaped, amended and approved” paid parking in Balboa Park and contended an accelerated timeline chosen by the council made it hard for his administration to implement it flawlessly.
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The mayor’s memo came in response to a Tuesday memo from Councilmembers Kent Lee and Sean Elo-Rivera in which they called implementation of paid parking “haphazard” and “not ready for prime time.”
Lee and Elo-Rivera said the process for city residents to get approved for discounts was so complex, cumbersome and confusing that Gloria should waive fees for residents until they have had time to adapt and learn.
While Gloria rejected that suggestion in part of his memo, he later said “enforcement remains focused on education, not punishment, during this early phase, to ensure park users are aware of the new parking fees.”
Dave Rolland, a spokesperson for Gloria, said Thursday that no specific date had been set for when the city would shift from education to enforcement. But he added that “about a month” would be an accurate timeline.
City officials have already corrected one key mistake: Signs that were missing Monday — alerting drivers that the 951-space lower Inspiration Point lot is free for three hours — have since been installed.
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Lee and Elo-Rivera in their memo decried “an inadequate effort to educate the public on how to use this new system.”
They said San Diegans had not been clearly informed about when a portal for city resident discounts would go live or how to use it.
And they complained that residents weren’t told they couldn’t buy discounted parking passes in person, or when enforcement with citations would actually begin.
City residents must apply for discounts online, pay $5 to have their residency verified, then wait two days for that verification and choose the day they will visit in advance.
Lee and Elo-Rivera called the city’s efforts “a haphazard rollout that will surely lead to San Diegans missing out on their resident discount and paying higher parking rates than they have to.”
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Gloria said the city collected $23,000 in parking fees on Monday and Tuesday and another $106,000 in daily, monthly and quarterly passes — mostly from residents who get discounts on such passes.
“Early data shows that the program is functioning and being used,” he said. “These are not the metrics of a system that is failing to function. They are the metrics of a system that is new, actively being adopted, and continuing to improve as public familiarity increases.”
While Gloria conceded that some improvements are still necessary, he rejected calls from Lee and Elo-Rivera for a suspension, citing his concerns it would jeopardize city finances and confuse the public.
“Your proposal to suspend paid parking for residents two days into the new program would have immediate and serious fiscal consequences,” Gloria said. “This reversal could introduce confusion among park users and would disregard investments already made to establish the system, potentially compromising the program’s effectiveness.”
Paid parking in Balboa Park is expected to generate about $3.7 million during the fiscal year that ends June 30, but revenue is expected to rise substantially when the fees are in place for a full fiscal year.
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Gloria said the money is a small part of the city’s overall solution to recurring deficits it faces of more than $100 million per year.
“What we will not do is reverse course days into implementation in a way that undermines fiscal stability, creates uncertainty, and sends the message that addressing a decades-old structural budget deficit that has plagued our city is optional because it is politically uncomfortable,” he said. “That kind of erratic decision-making is not good governance, and San Diegans deserve better.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the San Diego Zoo said Thursday that paid parking there has continued to go smoothly since it began on Monday.
The zoo, which is using Ace Parking for enforcement, opted for immediate citations instead of an educational grace period.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego Police responded to a barricaded individual in the Mission Valley area Thursday afternoon, prompting a heavy law enforcement presence.
The Nexstar Media video above details resources for crime victims
The department confirmed around 1 p.m. that officers were on scene in the 1400 block of Hotel Circle North, and are working to safely resolve the situation. Authorities asked the public to avoid the area and allow officers the space needed to conduct their operations.
Police described the incident as a domestic violence restraining order violation. At this time, it’s unknown if the person is armed.
No injuries have been reported.
The suspect was taken into custody within an hour.
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Further details about the barricaded person were not immediately released. Police say updates will be shared as more information becomes available.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
1 — The number of plate appearances for Campusano while in the majors between June 1 and June 13 and the one at-bat resulted in a weak, pinch-hit groundout against a position player (Kike Hernandez) on the mound in mop-up duty. Campusano was recalled to the majors four times in 2025 but did not get a real opportunity get settled after he went 0-for-6 with four walks and a strikeout in three straight starts as a DH in early May. Of course, hitting .227/.281/.361 with eight homers over 299 plate appearances after getting the first real chance to start in 2024 likely informed how the Padres viewed his opportunity in 2025.
TRENDING
Down — Called up a final time on the last day of the regular season, Campusano balked at the idea that the season did not go the way he wanted. “I had a great season,” he said as he and his teammates packed for the NL Wild Card Series in Chicago. And he did … for Triple-A El Paso. He hit more home runs than ever (25), drove in more runs (95) and finished with a career-high 1.036 OPS, tops among all qualifying Triple-A hitters. The disappointment inferred in the question posed to Campusano was that he was not able to impact the big-league team in any way in 2025, which began with the team choosing to bring in a 40-year-old Yuli Gurriel a chance on the opening day roster over a homegrown product. Once billed as the catcher of the future, Campusno did not catch a single game in the majors, nor did he get any hits, although the opportunity to play was sporadic after getting three straight starts as a DH in early May (see stat to note). The Padres even lost back-up catcher Elias Díaz to an oblique injury over the final weekend of the regular season, but Campusano — who played out the string for a Triple-A El Paso team that did not make the playoffs rather than participate in the majors as a September call-up — was added to the postseason roster more as a right-handed bat than a third catcher (Martín Maldonado was also re-added to the team for the playoffs as the defensive back-up to Freddy Fermin). Campusano, of course, was not asked to help the team in either capacity before the Padres were eliminated in three games.
2026 OUTLOOK
Campusano is finally out of minor league options this year, so the Padres will either have to carry him on the roster, trade him or expose him to waivers. He has fans in the organization, but two big-league staffs headed by Bob Melvin and Mike Shildt seemingly lost faith in his ability to catch a game and all the responsibilities that come with that. It remains to be seen what impact the arrival of robo umps will have on how new manager Craig Stammen views Campusano’s ability behind the plate, but he’s been a potent minor league hitter who has yet to truly get on track in the majors beyond the second half of 2023 (.875 OPS, 6 HRs). Campusano has dabbled at first base in recent years in the minors (12 starts total), so perhaps he settles into a role as a second catcher/right-handed DH/first base option to start 2026.
Luis Campusano #15 of the San Diego Padres and Nick Pivetta #27 walk to the dugout during a practice before the Wildcard series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sept. 29, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
