SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - It was never meant to last forever, but neighbors in East Village are not ready to raise a final toast to the Quartyard.
The Quartyard pop-up park in downtown San Diego, located on the corner of Park Boulevard and Market Street, is being forced to move.
Since developers, Holland Projects, started plans to build a 34-story high-rise, the Quartyard has been looking to breathe new life in unused city-owned land.
"The idea was never to be a permanent park, just be a temporary one--here for now kind of space to really make it a better place," said David Loewenstein, Rad Lab and Quartyard co-founder.
Now, in a grassroots effort to save the Quartyard, a petition has gained 3,000 signatures.
The idea for the pop-up park was launched in March 2015, as part of a thesis for three graduate students from New School of Architecture and Design.
The three students created Rad Lab to activate a city owned vacant lot into a pop-up park made of shipping containers.
The Quartyard's creators transformed the formerly vacant city-owned land into a bustling 25,000-square-foot space. Besides having a coffee shop, food trucks, a restaurant, a craft beer garden and a music venue, it's downtown's sole off-leash dog park.
Since then, the Quartyard has received nearly 9,000 neighbors and visitors a month and hosted over 200 events throughout its history.
When the Quartyard moves to its new location on 13th Street and Market Street, it will be downsizing from 25,000-square-feet to 10,000-square-feet.
The Quartyard pop-up park continues to be temporary until the city can sell the land. As a for-profit organization, it operates just like any other business and has to acquire permits through the city.
The Quartyard in downtown San Diego is one of a kind in the county.
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