ON POINT - January 2012

NTC Foundation Receives $25,000 Challenge Grant to Renovate Officer's Quarters D

San Diegans have driven by them for years – the four Officer’s Quarters at the former Naval Training Center on Rosecrans Street. For more than 88 years, four historic homes and four acres of gardens were home to Navy leadership and their families. The four acres of beautifully landscaped gardens overlooking San Diego Bay provided a magnificent setting to welcome dignitaries from around the world. The homes and gardens together offered a unique sense of place in San Diego.

Many San Diegans have stories of knowing the military families who lived in these homes, or attending a garden reception. The NTC Foundation has learned a lot more about the history of these storied homes – and what needs to be done to save them. Built in 1923, the houses are in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Like the rest of NTC, they reflect San Diego’s interest in the Beaux Arts tradition with its emphasis on simplicity and coherence and the “City Beautiful” movement across the United States. Today, the homes are on the National Register of Historic Places and hold a special place in San Diego’s Navy heritage and architectural history, making them a significant educational and cultural community asset.

But time has not been kind to the homes. A Historic Structures Report commissioned by the NTC Foundation in 2008 shows that “loss of Officer’s Quarters D is a real threat.” The building is essentially sinking around the concrete basement.

The NTC Foundation is taking action to save Quarters D. Thanks to grants from the City of San Diego’s Redevelopment Agency and the California Cultural and Historical Endowment, nearly all of the $775,000 needed to complete renovations has been secured. Work has now begun to restore Officer’s Quarters D and its one acre garden, to open the home and garden to the public for the first time this Spring.

The Historic Report also recommended that windows that match the original historic windows be installed, replacing the inefficient aluminum windows installed by the Navy in the 1970s. This is a $75,000 investment that we believe is necessary to set the proper standard and energy efficiency to which we will renovate the remaining Officer’s homes.

We’re pleased to report that we have received $50,000 of the $75,000 needed, including a generous $25,000 CHALLENGE GIFT from the Cushman Family – a Point Loma family that grew up across the street from NTC.

We seek the community’s support to help us match the Cushman Family $25,000 challenge, and allow us to restore Quarters D to its historic glory. Donors can link to the NTC Foundation’s website at www.NTCFoundation.org and click on Donate to Support the Mission of the NTC Foundation.

Your gift will assure our restoration standards are worthy of the Officer’s Quarters that have been a landmark in our community for nearly a century. Thank you for your consideration.

NTC Mixed Nuts! Art & Dance at Friday Night Liberty – January 6

For your first great night out in 2012 treat yourself to a little fun with Art & Dance at our January Friday Night Liberty open studios, galleries and performances on January 6 starting at 5 p.m. Watch FREE Sneak Peeks of San Diego Dance Theater’s upcoming Cabaret Dances “Mixed Nuts” and Malashock Dance’s upcoming “Malashock/RAW2: STRIPPED” in their Dance Place Studios. Enjoy new exhibits at the San Diego Watercolor Society and final weeks in our other galleries. End your evening with dinner at Solare Ristorante. For a full schedule go to www.ntclibertystation.com.

Fabulous Events!

Looking for the perfect spot for you next gala, fundraiser or conference? How about a convenient location, free parking and a park-like setting? Then have we got the place for you!

NTC Venues have taken what used to be a library, barracks and parade grounds and transformed them into a place that offers state-of-the-art audio-visual, flexible room sets with indoor furniture and a choice of vendors from a pre-qualified list.

This spring we will be unveiling our newest venue, Barracks 17. We’re taking the ground floor of a building that recruits used to call home and renovating it into a wonderful event venue. Additionally, we’re taking the courtyard between Barracks 17 and 19 and making is a beautiful plaza for events that can include the indoor space or stand alone.

If you are ready to talk about your 2012 events, give us a call! Kathie Conway is ready to assist you. She can be reached at (619) 573-9309 or [email protected]. Don’t wait too long because space is booking up already.

"Sol Searching" Sculpture Installed at NTC Arts District

San Diego artist Alber deMatteis has installed the third sculpture in the NTC Outdoor Gallery collection, curated by Betsy Lane.   His piece, Sol Searching, is featured outside Building 176 near the corner of Truxtun and Roosevelt, in full view of the Central Promenade.

Sol Searching joins two other sculptures - the kinetic Fuji San by Jeffery Laudenslager (left) in front of Luce Auditorium, and She Dances by Robert Holmes, which is outside Dance Place - in what is a growing outdoor gallery.

All NTC Outdoor Gallery pieces are for sale through Betsy Lane Art at 619-997-7491.   A portion of the proceeds benefit the NTC Foundation.   More sculptures are planned for the Central and North Promenades over the next year.

Predictions: Top 5 Milestones for NTC in 2012

The new year 2012 will be pivotal in the long and storied history of the former Naval Training Center and its recent transformation into its new mission as a Civic, Arts and Cultural District for San Diego. The NTC Foundation wants to share with you what we anticipate to be our Top 5 Milestones for NTC in 2012.

1. Renovations Will Be Completed on 8 Historic Naval Training Center Buildings – Shuttered since the Navy left in 1997, 8 of the original 1923 buildings at the former Naval Training Station are now being renovated by the NTC Foundation, including 7 barracks and Officer’s Quarters D. Back in 1923 when they first opened, these buildings were the nucleus of a 26-building Navy base that eventually grew to 500 acres and helped set the stage for San Diego being known as a Navy town. At $20.2 million and at 78,670 square feet, this is the largest historic preservation project in San Diego County and one that preserves the legacy of NTC and those who served, while opening these landmark buildings to the public for the first time.

2. More Galleries & Museums, Creative Retail, Nonprofit Community Groups & Event Venues at NTC – Already a 7-building destination for Arts and Culture, NTC at Liberty Station will expand significantly when the 8 newly renovated buildings are completed starting this Spring. Although an official announcement won’t be made until mid-January as to what will be in our new buildings, the expansion will be sure to make NTC a landmark Arts & Culture District for innovation and creativity. Space still remains in our buildings for other creative ventures; contact Sean Giffin at [email protected] for information.

3. New NTC Event Venues – Among the new buildings are two great new event venues: Barracks 17 Event Center and the Barracks 17 Plaza. NTC is already home to some of the best indoor and outdoor event venues in San Diego, including the McMillin Companies Event Center, the NTC Command Center, the Sybil Stockdale Rose Garden, the North Chapel, the North Promenade, Ingram Plaza and Legacy Plaza. The addition of the Barracks 17 venues will make the NTC Venues among the largest and most varied collection of venues in San Diego, all in an historic setting with shipshape hospitality. For more information about our Event Venues, call 619 573-9300.

4. Luce Auditorium Operating Model Study Will Be Complete – We’ve already learned much about what we need to know about the former 1800-seat Auditorium at NTC: what configuration works best (3 venues with 450, 200 and 200 seats); who primary users could be (dance, film and music), and how do we keep the airplane noise out (an innovative building within a building). In 2012 we will complete the study that will tell us if our vision will pencil out financially. Will income meet expenses? Will an operating endowment be needed? What is our operating model? It may sound like just another study, but once we know all this, we are then ready to move forward with final designs and a capital campaign to create what we envision to be a premier Performing Arts and Cinema Center for San Diego. Tom Hall of AlbertHall & Associates will complete the study by Spring.  

5. More Art in Public Places – It’s not easy making an old Navy base look like an Arts & Culture District, especially with the limitations we have being in a National Historic District. But already sculptures are popping up on the campus, and in 2012 you can expect to see more installations from curator Betsy Lane, as well as a special installation by Outside the Lens on the old Navy Exchange Building on Roosevelt and Truxtun featuring 40 self-portrait images. Artist JR mixes Art and Action to create photo exhibitions that are placed throughout the streets of the world, catching the attention of people who are not typically museum visitors. You can see more of his work at http://jr-art.net/.

2012 Milestones and Plans for NTC Resident Groups

Norwegian Woods - Trouldhaugen by M. Fischbeck

The new year 2012 will be a year of milestones and new plans for many of the over 40 Resident Groups and Artists at NTC. We’re pleased to share with the community information from some of them:

• M. Fischbeck Studio/Gallery, Barracks 19: Artist Peggy Fischbeck is working on a series of Portuguese Festa paintings to debut mid 2012. Additionally, look for her around Liberty Station painting on location. 

• Bravo School of Art, Barracks 19: Looking for a new way to start the new year off right by getting back to your creativity? Bravo School of Art owner Lauren Downey has assembled over 50 different art classes for adults and children to explore their creativity in a safe, supportive and fun environment.

• Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater, Building 175 Dance Place: The first event in 2012 is our New Year’s Eve party, which celebrates the company's Ruby Red 40th Anniversary. Cabaret Dances opens the performing season in January with Mixed Nuts, featuring Jean's By George/ By Jean, Joe Goode's I Don’t Want to be Here, and a world premiere for the company by Gabe Masson. Next up is the Young Choreographers Annual Showcase at the Neurosciences Institute on March 25, wherein one choreographer is awarded a $3,000 grand prize and two runners up are given $1,000 apiece. More info on our 40th season to come.

• Capoeira Brasil, Building 176: 2012 marks the 10 year anniversary of Capoeira Brasil San Diego. We will be celebrating throughout the year with several special events, most notably hosting the highly honored Mestre Acordeon and participating in the documentary and feature film he will be producing. Mestre Acordeon’s international reputation as a respected teacher, performer, musician, organizer, and author is built upon fifty years of active practice, as well as research into the origins, traditions, political connotations, and contemporary trends of Capoeira.

• John Harvard Academy, Building 176: Upon the successful results of college admissions during 2009, 2010 and 2011, John Harvard Academy continues to implement the Early College Preparation Track to all its students from 7th Grade to 12th Grade during academic year 2012-2013. "We prepare our students early. College entrance becomes increasingly competitive," said its president Dr. Andre Tran, a Harvard-trained College Counselor and Admission Interviewer of candidates for Harvard University in the San Diego county areas.

• Recreational Music Center, Building 176: Budget cuts may be affecting music in the schools, but smart Parent Teacher Organizations are taking action. RMC's pilot program (partnering with PTO's to put music back in the schools) has been an amazing success.  We currently serve more than 300 children each week in the San Diego Unified School District and we will be greatly expanding this program in 2012.

• United States Karate Academy, Building 176: The USKA will be celebrating its 5 year anniversary on June 17, 2012. Chief Instructor and Owner, Sal Convento, is the 2010 Senior World Champion, becoming the first person to own the title of World Champion and Senior World Champion in the World Tang Soo Do Association.   New classes are enrolling now.

To The Point ...

January 6 "Friday Night Liberty" Open Art Studios & Performances
This month’s first-Friday, an evening of FREE open artist studios, galleries and performances throughout the NTC Arts & Cultural District at Liberty Station, will feature “NTC Mixed Nuts – Art & Dance” with FREE performances by Malashock Dance and Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater and exhibits in 8 galleries. Located at NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, San Diego, CA  92106 From 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. www.NTCLibertyStation.com.

Be sure to check the NTC Promenade online calendar for all the happenings scheduled.

Please consider making a gift to the NTC Foundation to help us translate the community’s vision for NTC at Liberty Station into a new Arts and Cultural District that will increase the quality of life for all San Diegans.  Donate now!

For information about lease space in NTC at Liberty Station, contact Leasing Specialist Sean Giffin at [email protected] or 619-573-9304.