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Temporary park close to opening in East Village

The public will soon be able to enjoy a new, but temporary park in downtown's East Village area.

SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - The public will soon be able to enjoy a new, but temporary park in downtown's East Village area.

The park is being built on vacant but borrowed land, so all of its structures are easy to disassemble and move. It will feature a coffee shop and beer garden, various food trucks, host concerts and events and will also include a dog run.

Construction crews are piecing together The Quartyard, located on the corner of Park Boulevard and Market Street. Philip Auchettl and his business partners from a company called Rad Lab admit that building a temporary park on land leased from the city is a social experiment.

"We've got a coffee shop on the corner, we've got an outdoor beer garden with a restaurant," Auchettl said.

In 2011, the corner was an eyesore. At the time, the City Council voted to redevelop the lot into a dog park, but a struggling economy shelved the project – until the idea of building something that could be easily torn down surfaced.

Pet owners who live in downtown high-rises have been eager for the park to open for years. The park will feature a dog run that's open to the public, and that's not all.

One of the food vendors is a restaurant called Sausage and Meat. They've installed a doggie door so they can serve food to their four-legged friends.

Scott Slater, owner of Slater's 50/50 restaurants is investing in a concept he says has flourished in cities like says London, New York and San Francisco.

"What a perfect spot for it. Instead of an eyesore, now we have this gorgeous outdoor beer garden. I don't know if you know anything about downtown San Diego, but there's no place to drink outdoors in downtown San Diego," he said.

The urban park will host up to 48 music concerts a year under and next to stacked metal containers you'd normally see on a freight ship. That's because if they lose the lease, it all has to go.

From concept to completion, it's taken two years to open their doors to the public.

Jess O'Shea from coffee shop Mesuggar Shack, says the sad little corner needed a shot of espresso.

"I hope that we can turn this corner into a hub for downtown," she said.

After years of blight, the chain link fence is about to come down. The park will open in mid-February. The lease expires in the summer of 2016.

The land the park sits on is zoned for a 42-story high-rise building, but until the land is needed, organizers are hoping they can stay in business.

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