Transforming a historical plaza

By Emma Peterson. 

The team at Quikrete showcased their skills by giving a historical meeting space a makeover for modern use.  

Working on a project that centers around an iconic, historical landmark can be a little bit stressful. It’s important for the professionals involved to be able to make secure and high-performing improvements to the area without losing the character, charm or history of the space. That’s something that the Klaser Tile and Emser Tile teams had to tackle when they were working on the Horton Plaza Park in San Diego, California. 

The space’s history 

The Horton Plaza Park sits in the center of downtown San Diego between the grand U.S. Grant Hotel and the Balboa Theatre. Developed in the 1870s by real estate developer Alonzo Horton, the 1.8-acre space was originally known as the “town plaza.” It was a space for the hotel until Alonzo deeded it to the city in 1895 and two years later Kate Sessions was brought in to plant palm trees in the area.  

Later, in 1910, Irving Gill was brought in to design new walkways and the iconic Broadway fountain. This water feature was modeled after the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, Greece and is one of the first examples of colored lighting getting used to illuminate flowing water. By then, the plaza was a beloved community space. In the 1980s, the plaza was a part of landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. His goal was to open a shopping mall next to the plaza, but it never came to fruition. The next big change for the plaza came in the 2010s.  

The project 

In 2015, Klaser Tile and Emser Tile were brought in to help with the $17 million makeover designed to bring the plaza into the 21st century. The goal of the project was to make it more accessible as a community space, with the city planning to host everything from concerts and holiday celebrations to movie screenings and cultural events there.  

A big part of this makeover was restoring Irving Gill’s work and expanding it to include space for three food pavilions. To achieve this, the contractor team needed to install a variety of pavers, stone and tile throughout the park. They chose to use more than 17,500 cubic feet of QUIKRETE® Deck Mud beneath those hardscape additions in order to keep the pavers, stones and tiles from sagging and moving too much over time.  

The park today 

Today, the plaza, now called The Park at Horton, is a world-class, open-air community gathering space in the middle of the city. With the iconic and historic Irving Gill-designed fountain as a centerpiece, the park’s sprawling lawn and event space make it perfect for both private and public events.  

Image sources (in order of appearance): Horton Downtown SD (cover), Gaslamp Foundation, QUIKRETE