Updates to the Botanical Building construction in Balboa Park

The building is shrinking down before growing.

A look inside the Botanical Building construction

A look inside the Botanical Building construction.

Photo via @CityofSanDiego

There’s always something growing on at Balboa Park — and recent trips have felt a bit different without access to the landmark Botanical Building.

But, we expected this, because planned renovations to the landmark started at the top of this year. This week, the City of San Diego gave us an update + shared current pictures of the project.

Botanical Building pictures

What the project looks like behind the fence.

Photos via @CityofSanDiego

Most notably, construction crews will be using space between The San Diego Museum of Art + the Timken Museum of Art. Sidewalks will be closed on the southwest side of the building and you can expect to see fences restricting access.

Right now, we just see a shell of the Botanical Building, but the grass will be much greener on the other side of this project. The first phase — focusing on restoring + renovating the structure — is expected to be finished by summer of 2023.