City ends talks with Save Starlight, takes over Balboa Park’s Starlight Bowl

The City of San Diego is taking back the Starlight Bowl. The city has ended lease negotiations with Save Starlight, the nonprofit that has held a special-use permit for the Balboa Park amphitheater since 2017, KPBS and SanDiegoVille reported Oct. 1.

The city gave two reasons: the group operated without a required nonprofit license for part of its permit period, and in August the city received concerns about its board and financial controls.

Parks and Recreation will now secure and maintain the site, with money set aside for landscaping and security, and the city plans to seek bids for a food-service vendor on the upper concourse. Mayor Todd Gloria said this part of the park should be cared for, active and welcoming to the public.

The Starlight Bowl was built in 1935 for the California Pacific International Exposition and has not hosted regular performances since 2010. A 2014 assessment found serious structural, electrical, acoustic and accessibility problems, with a full rehabilitation estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.