The wrecking ball was swinging in Mission Bay on Wednesday.
Well, the heavy equipment was actually an excavator, but San Diego mayor Todd Gloria was on hand in the morning to showcase the project, which essentially involves the teardown of run-down mobile homes at De Anza Cove left behind by former owners who permanently vacated the site, making way for 147 campsites, bike paths and more.
Workers began scraping the site back in November — nearly 170 trailers are being demolished — will only a small portion still standing at the site.
Before the heavy equipment was brought in on the project, which was approved by the San Diego City Council in 2019, each of the mobile homes was cleaned out and any asbestos removed.
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Last summer, the operator of the nearby Mission Bay RV Resort and Campland on the Bay was given the green light by the state coastal commission to move forward.
"The community has been waiting far too long for this project to move forward, and we’re just so excited to show everyone the progress that we’re making cleaning up the abandoned mobile homes, moving forward with the repairs to the bike and pedestrian path here in De Anza Cove, and pretty soon we’ll be getting started on expanding the opportunities for affordable overnight camping on the waterfront for sd families and visitors," Jacob Gelfand of Mission Bay RV Resort and Campland on the Bay told NBC 7 on Wednesday.
Gelfand said he hopes the cleanup finished in the next month or so, then will work can begin on fixing up the road and bike path.
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The RV resort will have use of the area for a few years, but the city is doing a long-term study that could eventually change how De Anza Cove is used. Environmentalists have said they would like to see the area returned to wetlands.
