Facility Usage Under the San Diego Polo Club
San Diego Polo Club Usage.
It’s important to understand the broad range of usage by the SD Polo Club during their 30 years of occupancy. The following activities represent just some of the events that have historically occurred on the Polo fields on a regular basis. In the middle of the SDPC occupancy, non-polo related event dates averaged about 72 per year, roughly 6 per month.
“1985
From late 80’s to 2015, SDPC members illegally landed airplanes on the fields twice per year. In two instances, planes started to land without prior notice to the kids playing soccer, and luckily landed in an adjacent field without tragedy.
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“1989
In the late 1980’s, SDPC received permission from the City of San Diego to install and use light towers at the facility for nighttime arena polo. Located directly under many of the homes that border the fields, arena polo with air horns used to signal the start and end of periods was played regularly until 2018, sometimes as late as 10pm.
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“1990
San Diego Polo Club boasted the longest polo season in North America, with over 16 weekends a year for their large events. These events included thousands of spectators, tailgating with BBQs on the grass, large tents that hosted gourmet meals and drinks, amplified music, and a commentator who narrated the matches over amplified loudspeakers so attendees could hear about the action no matter where they were on the facility.
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“1992
Between 1992 and 2003 the Polo Club hosted 2 dog shows per year with over 100 motorhomes parked on the facility, with vendors and attendees allowed to sleep on site.
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“1992
From 1992 to 1995 the Polo Club hosted the “Concert on the Green” an annual event with a full orchestra that attracted large numbers of attendees.
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“1992
Between 1992 and 2003 the local Pumpkin and Christmas Tree lots, now currently located across the street at the Horse Park, were opened with full lighting each night of the selling season (Oct-Dec).
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“1994
Starting in 1994, San Diego Polo Club began regularly hosted “After Racetrack” parties and concerts at the facility, including amplified music and live performances. One party ended poorly with a physical/verbal altercation between a concert customer and local resident John Carr.
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“1995
Between 1995 and 1999 an annual Classic Car Show was held, with hundreds of cars parked on the grass with attendees parking on surrounding areas.
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“1998
In 1998 the NFL Experience was held at the facility prior to Super Bowl XXXII, hosting fans, corporate sponsors and VIP’s.
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“2006
In 2006, after years of illegally grading the adjacent Coast to Crest trail, the SDPC was cited by the City of San Diego. For over 10 years, SDPC ignored their responsibility to restore and rehabilitate the trail and that responsibility was passed along to Surf as a requirement in the new lease.
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