LIBERTY STATION

Liberty Station, formerly San Diego’s Naval Training Center (NTC), is celebrating its 100-year anniversary in 2023 with curated programming and events rooted in naval tradition. The mission of Liberty Station’s Centennial celebration is to honor the property’s contributions to the San Diego community, preserve the unique history of the former NTC and share it with Liberty Station businesses, the wider community and the larger military network. Today, as one of the city’s top destinations for dining, arts and entertainment, Liberty Station provides a portal to the past, an experience for the present and a promise for the future.

The property was originally dedicated as the Naval Training Station in 1923. In 1944, the Secretary of the Navy changed the facility’s name to Naval Training Center (NTC) following the addition of schools to the center. Through its 60 years of operation, the NTC served as home to 1.75 million graduating recruits and 1 million graduating A and C school sailors. In 1942, the property reached its wartime peak of 33,000 personnel during World War II and the following year, the first women joined the training center. While the NTC was originally 235 acres, it expanded in 1993 to 550 acres to house 300 buildings and approximately 3 million square feet of open space.

After the NTC’s closure in 1997, the historic portion of the property was registered by the National Park

Service and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This prestigious designation preserved 49 historic buildings constructed between 1921 and 1949. In 2001, the Corky McMillin Companies broke ground on Liberty Station as it’s known today. San Diego’s rich history made an impact on the development of new buildings and the adaptive reuse of the onsite historic naval buildings, with architectural influences of the 1920’s Spanish Colonial Revival style being seen throughout.

Today the property houses a variety of facilities and businesses including 51+ restaurants (majority locally owned), 30+ retail shops, 30+ resident artists, four hotels, eight schools, The Rock Church, 27 holes of golf (including miniature), 380,000 square feet of office space and a performing art center opening in 2024.

With the adaptive reuse of the buildings, some areas of the station were intentionally refurbished to serve a similar purpose in their modern-day revivals, like the Liberty Public Market which was once the Naval Dining Hall, or the 9-hole par three golf course developed from the Sail Ho Golf Course created to be a recreational activity for Naval recruits. A luxury movie theater, THE LOT, now occupies the NTC’s Luce Auditorium, which opened in 1942 for NTC recruits and their dates to watch live theater performances. THE LOT’s design preserves the building’s original oak stage and exposed concrete proscenium, where the curtains once hung.

Liberty Station kicked off its Centennial celebration in early 2023 through the unveiling of billboards, banners and signs. This Centennial signage was developed with the intention to juxtapose historic photos with modern-day photos, capturing the success of the adaptive reuse project that transformed the grounds from the NTC to Liberty Station. Centennial artwork by Liberty Station resident artist, Joe Pisano, will also be on display in Liberty Station’s Command Center (2640 Historic Decatur Road, San Diego, 92106) featuring a sevenpanel piece, “The Art of Immortalizing Heroes.” Paying tribute to the Armed Forces of the USA from WWI to the Global War on Terror, the piece is comprised of seven Panels depicting World War I, World War II, The Korean War, Vietnam Conflict, The Global War on Terrorism, Unsung Heroes and Funeral Honors. The piece also features a corrugated wall highlighting The Freedom Wall and The Vietnam Wall and was created with 100,000 drywall screws, one thousand Dog Tags, 3,800 wooden stars and approximately 2,000 participants including Veterans, Active Duty and Reservists and nearly 1500 children and special needs adults.

Pisano enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserves in September 1999. He is currently the Operations Chief for Regional Maintenance Command San Diego and has served for 22 ½ years of faithful and loyal service to the U.S. Navy Reserves. Accolades include The Don Diego Award and the People’s Choice Award and most importantly, Pisano is credited for his efforts in saving the lives of our Veterans struggling with PTSD and suicidal ideation.

To further commemorate the property’s rich military history and honor those who trained at the NTC, Liberty Station is gathering anecdotes and images from those who have served or family member(s) of those who served at the NTC to be featured on their social media channels as part of the Tell Us your NTC Story campaign. Should you or anyone you know have a story to share about their time at the NTC, please reach out to 100libertystation@crowepr.com!

To learn more about how Liberty Station will continue to honor the property’s historical roots, San Diego’s military community and showcase businesses during its Centennial year, please visit 100libertystation.com and follow along on Instagram at @libertystation for updates on Centennial events as they are announced.