C I T Y L I G H T S NEWS TICKER
The Ellsworth Kelly jilt Deceased artist trashed SD’s sculpture sensibilities
The December 27 passing of Ellsworth Kelly, noted in the New York Times as “one of America’s great 20th-century abstract artists,” has gone unheralded in San Diego, though he was once a household name here, famous for walking away from a controversial
C I T Y L I G H T S By Reader staff writers
NFL proposal folly Personal seat licenses would bring in $187 million?
The San Diego Chargers on December 30 submitted its stadium subsidy plan to the National Football League. It is almost the same as the earlier plan put forward for a Mission Valley stadium. The stadium’s cost would be $1.1 bil-
lion. St. Louis, which on December 29 sent its plan to the NFL, wants to build a $1.1 billion stadium to keep the St. Louis Rams from moving. However, Stan Kroenke, owner of the Rams, has already broken ground on an Inglewood stadium that would cost close to $2 billion. According to the Chargers’ proposal, the
Ellsworth Kelly in 2008
$450,000 commission offered by the Port of San Diego. Kelly inspired controversy in San Diego
when it was announced in 1985 he had been picked to create a monumental water- front sculpture here. For Kelly, already growing his reputation, the proposal was a big deal. L.A. Times San Diego arts editor Matt
Damsker lauded the project in June 1985, saying that by 1990, the city would look upon, “the most ambitious work to date by one of America’s greatest living artists, Ellsworth Kelly — a 70-foot Minimalist monolith of stainless steel, matched by a great concrete prow, a cutting edge against the night.” Backers of the project said it would put
the city on the map of international culture. Responding to criticism that the port
was ignoring San Diego artists, Jerry Hirsh- berg, then chief of Nissan’s design center here, told the Times, “How can I be against ‘local artists,’ whatever that means? Hell, I’m a local artist. To say that anybody who places excellence as the top priority, is bad for local artists — I can’t understand that. But what does location have to do with it anyway? When we look at art, I’d rather not know where anybody is from.” Then, although he had previously agreed
to modify the project to assuage some of the critics, Kelly pulled the plug. In a letter to the port surrendering his
commission, Kelly wrote, “The change in the original site has caused me to rethink the sculpture. I now find that the single sculpture is technically out of my control, and I do not feel comfortable in my ability to provide for the City of San Diego exactly what they want and deserve.”
Matt Potter
city would put in $200 million, the county $150 million, the NFL $200 million from its loan program and sale of personal seat licenses ($187 million), and the Chargers’ $363 million (which could be partly if not wholly paid with sale of naming rights and corporate sponsorships). To count on $187 million from personal seat licenses is folly. The document stresses that the Chargers
steadfastly refuse to work with San Diego. The proposal claims that the team is 22nd among 32 NFL teams in total revenue, 18th in annual ticket revenue, and 17th in aver- age ticket price. The document argues that the actual
San Diego market is 6.5 million people, instead of half that, which is the official population of the San Diego metro area. To reach 6.5 million, the document adds in Imperial Valley and Baja California. But how many people from those areas will attend
C I T Y L I G H T S
Access to Maple Canyon could be provided by a plot of land that may be sold to a developer. Maple Canyon By Dorian Hargrove F
rom above, Maple Canyon appears as a finger reaching for air
from Uptown San Diego’s dense urban landscape. The canyon curves south-
west from Bankers Hill to the edge of Little Italy. Resi- dents and tourists descend into the canyon to access a
Neal Obermeyer
popular hiking trail. Dozens of eucalyptus trees, planted by Kate Sessions in 1911, tower over the canyon. The trail runs underneath two historic bridges on Quince Street and First Avenue. At its western terminus, at
Laurel and Union streets, sits a small .68 acre parcel of land
conundrum City wants more houses. Neighbors want more parks
with two wooden houses, one of which is boarded up and vacant. The parcel is owned by the City of San Diego. This month, city coun-
cilmembers will be asked to approve a proposal from the Real Estate Assets Depart- ment to sell the plot of land at market value. Staffers from San Diego’s Planning Department have told resi- dents that the parcel has too steep of a grade and is too small for a park. There is also no direct link, or walk- ing trail, into Maple Canyon. Because of those issues,
the department recom- mends that the council sell the property. The vote will
Average Chargers ticket this season cost $84.55
games if ticket prices are the 17th highest in the NFL? According to Team Marketing Report, the average Chargers ticket this year was $84.55, just below the league’s average $85.83. The document also claims that polling
shows that the public is interested in going to a game in a new stadium. But other polls show that San Diegans do not have a favor- able opinion of paying for such a stadium with their taxes.
Don Bauder continued on page 36
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDY BOYD
WIKIPEDIA/JEREMIAH GARCIA
2 San Diego Reader January 7, 2016
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