The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held at the site of the earlier 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego's large, urban Balboa Park.

Exposition

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The reason the Exposition was held was to promote San Diego. The exposition was a success due to careful planning and employee training, with arrangements for restaurants, theatres, security, transportation, and other important details.

The exposition had hundreds of exhibits in history, arts, science, and industry. Some exhibits were unusual, such as Zoro Garden Nudist Colony or the 1 ton (900 kg.) Mechnical Man, and some were not-so-scientific, such as the Lost Continent of Mu.

Architecture

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The architecture of buildings from the 1915 fair was Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture, while the few new buildings added in the 1935 fair were the more sterile Vernacular Style, but with interesting Art Deco touches, such as murals. Exotic landscaping was planted around the buildings. The newer buildings are at Presidents Way, southwest of the original buildings at El Prado.

Statistics

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The Exposition took ten months to bulid. It attracted 7,220,000 visitors during its 377 days of operation. Visitors brought US$ 37,700,000 to San Diego. It employeed 2700 people, half of them Federal relief workers. The cost was US$ 20,000,000. Admission was 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children 2-11.

Four restaurants provided meals: Cafe of the World, Palisades Cafe, Spanish Kitchens, and the Pioneer Days Restaurant.

Twenty-one nations participated: Argentina, British Empire, Chile, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Germany, Honduras, Irish Free State, Italy, Japan, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, Sweden, Uruguay, United States, Yugoslavia, and one unknown.

Legacy

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Park improvements amounted to US$ 6,000,000. The exposition was so popular that some buildings were rebuilt to be made more permanent. Many buildings or reconstructed versions remain in use today, and are used by several museums and theatres in Balboa Park.

In the early 1960s destruction of a few of the buildings and replacement by modern, clashing buildings created an uproar in San Diego. A Committee of One Hundred was formed by citizens to protect the park buildings. The convinced the City Council to require new buildings to be built in Spanish Colonial Revival Style and worked with various government agencies to have the remaining buildings declared as a National Historic Landmark in 1978. In the late 1990s, the most deterioriated buildings and burnt buildings were rebuilt.

See also

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• California Pacific International Exposition Official Guide; Souvenir Program and Picture Book. 84 pages.

External links

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• "Do You Want an Exposition? San Diego's 1935 Fair in Photographs", 'The Journal of San Diego History'' 31:4 (Fall 1985) by Larry and Jane Booth
• California Pacific Exposition San Diego 1935-1936 History by Richard Amero (San Diego Historical Society)

History of California | History of San Diego | San Diego, California | World's Fairs