I've been on Jury Duty all week and during my lunch break I've been wandering around downtown. The last two days I headed in the direction of the harbor. With an hour and a half to kill and no friends to speak of, I took it upon myself to find the Lane Field Plaque. It was placed there to commemorate the home of Pacific Coast League Padres from 1936-1957.
Like most San Diegans I've been down to the harbor plenty of times, but I can't remember ever actively seeking out the plaque. While finding it on the corner of two major streets might not seem to be a complicated task, it is made more difficult by a sprawling construction project that's now in progress.
Lane Field (baseball) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A plaque at the corner of Broadway and Pacific Highway commemorates the ballpark.
I asked Twitter for help in finding it. We knew where it once was, but there were rumors it had been uprooted and moved until construction was complete.
@gaslampball@woedoctor a visual ref. for you --->pic.twitter.com/zNFDYttgDH
— Matt Schwarz (@friarfanatic10) August 7, 2013
Yesterday, with my lunch break quickly coming to an end I had to abandon my search fearing that the plaque was hidden behind a construction fence or possibly moved.
Today, with an even longer lunch break I had more time to investigate. Using Google Maps I was able to match the location of palm trees on the Northwest corner of Broadway and Pacific Highway and take an azimuth to the location of the plaque. There was no sign of it, save for a wooden crate.
Think the Lane Field plaque is under this wood box on Broadway and Pacific? pic.twitter.com/8cZMVkoFSB
— Gaslamp Ball (@gaslampball) August 8, 2013
I hypothesized that the plaque was being hidden and protected by the wooden crate seen in the picture above. A few minutes after the tweet I was able to call over a construction worker and ask him if the plaque truly lied beneath. He confirmed my suspicion, saying that the plaque would stay there for forevermore but likely remain covered until the two phases of construction were completed.
Maybe someday I'll return when it's not off limits to the public. On that day I'll take along butcher paper and a crayon and make a rubbing and thus create my own replica and treasured souvenir.
For those asking, the construction project is a sizable one which will result in waterfront condos, a hotel and a park.The sign said the project will be complete in Spring 2014.