SAN DIEGO – San Diegans have been visiting Balboa Park for 100 years, but there are still many in the city who have yet to experience the celebrated park’s arts, science and culture.
In honor of the 2015 Centennial Celebration, 17 Balboa Park institutions and more than 75 philanthropic benefactors are donating $1 million in annual Family Explorer Passes for at-risk and underserved San Diego families through Balboa Park’s Community Access Pass Program.
Each Balboa Park Explorer Pass is good for general admission for up to two adults and four children to 17 museums for an entire year. The passes are being distributed in each district by nonprofit organizations recommended by City Council members. In all, more than 5,000 families will receive free passes, benefitting as many as 30,000 San Diegans.
“This generous donation will create opportunities for even more San Diegans to enjoy the wonders of Balboa Park during its Centennial Celebration,” said Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer. “I want to thank the Balboa Park institutions and benefactors for making sure that families that normally would never come to Balboa Park now have the opportunity to enjoy San Diego’s finest arts and cultural treasures.”
“The Balboa Park Cultural Partnership looks forward to sharing numerous new exhibits and events this year that even more San Diegans can experience with this donation,” said President Deborah Klochko. “We want to thank the community for the last 100 years and celebrate the next 100 years of exploring Balboa Park!”
Featured exhibits and events Explorer Pass holders can visit include the brand new “Coast to Cactus” at the San Diego Natural History Museum, showing the varied habitats of Southern California; “2theExtreme – MathAlive!” at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, including a Mars rover; and the Centennial Railway Garden, recreating a model of Balboa Park in 1915 at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum (opens March 2015). For full details on the Centennial Celebration, visit http://2015.bpoc.org.
“These generous donations, in addition to partnerships with charter schools, Wounded Warriors, Bayside Community Center and the Joan Kroc Center, will ensure that the full experience of the Centennial celebration is accessible to even more San Diego families,” added Councilmember Todd Gloria, who represents Balboa Park and has supported many park improvements.
