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February 26, 2015
Quartyard, the first-ever temporary urban park using a vacant city lot in downtown San Diego, will hold its grand opening party on Saturday, March 7, at 5pm. This much-anticipated project, which began as a student thesis project while the alumni were studying at San Diego's NewSchool of Achitecture, has transformed an empty 30,000-square foot city block into a new destination for tourists, a venue for local residents and their pets, a place for local businesses to generate revenue, and a new location for entertainers to showcase their talent - all by repurposing the space with recycled and retrofitted shipping containers.
Two years in the making, Quartyard aims to serve as a model for cities across the U.S. looking for unique economic development ideas and ways to re-invent empty acreages while improving quality of life for their residents. Historically, vacant lots waiting for development have blighted their surroundings and dragged down property values. Quartyard aims to demonstrate how positive changes can quickly and economically activate an empty lot into a thriving interactive urban space.
Opening day of Quartyard is the culmination of work led by the RAD Lab team in collaboration with NewSchool faculty, the City of San Diego and private sector advisors who expressed support for the project. Quartyard was also partially funded by San Diego residents via a Kickstarter campaign that generated $60,000 in just 30 days.
The Quartyard Grand Opening will take place Saturday, March 7, from 5-10pm and feature behind-the-scenes tours with the creators, live music by Madi Diaz and Swim Team, food by S&M Sausage & Meat and rotating curbside bites from local food trucks, a craft beer garden, coffee by Meshuggah Shack, a mini pop-up shop with some of San Diego's finest makers and more.
Quartyard is located at 1102 Market Street in San Diego's East Village. For more information and to purchase tickets to the grand opening, visit quartyardsd.com/shop/grand-opening-ticket.
