Rendering of the Renovated Horton Plaza, Downtown San Diego CA
Rendering of the Renovated Horton Plaza, Downtown San Diego CA, a photo by JoeInSouthernCA on Flickr.
The renovation is currently underway. It involves the demolition of the building that housed the now-closed Robinson's-May department store (and the still-open Sam Goody), and replacing it with a open plaza, seen in the upper left here. The historic structure (blue, top center here) remains. The paved areas around the fountain will be turfed.
Somewhat surprisingly, the owners of Horton Plaza - the AU mall conglomerate Westfield - proposed this project. Turns out that it is less expensive for them to tear down the almost-empty building and create and maintain this new public space than maintain a hulk of stucco and drywall, and pay property taxes on it.
As mentioned above Westfield is an Australian company and had some smart cookies in its employ. They think about problem-solving differently - and often better - than their American peers.