Erosion forcing marine researchers from center By Terry Rodgers San Diego Union Tribune February 25, 2008

LA JOLLA – Eroding sea bluffs have prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to plan a partial evacuation of its marine research facility in La Jolla this summer.

EARNIE GRAFTON / Union-Tribune Mary Glackin, the deputy undersecretary for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, visited the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus Friday.

Geotechnical studies have determined that it is too risky to occupy about half of the 90,000-square-foot center.

About 120 scientists and staff members at the center will begin moving in May to temporary offices elsewhere on the UCSD campus.

The Bush administration's budget proposal for the next fiscal year includes $12.1 million for the relocation.

By 2011, all 300 of the center's researchers and support workers are expected to move into a new complex built across the street on La Jolla Shores Drive. The chosen site is a vacant parcel situated uphill from the four present buildings.

Construction of the replacement center, which will encompass 119,000 square feet, is scheduled to begin next year. The project is estimated to cost $104 million.

“The joke around here is that at least we'll be out of the current building when it falls onto the beach,” Bartoo said.

Bartoo spoke Friday during a news conference with Mary Glackin, the deputy undersecretary for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Glackin was in La Jolla to visit the center and discuss the administration's budget and operations.

Biologists for the fisheries center survey the populations of various marine mammals, including Pacific gray whales. They also assess the health of coastal pelagic species such as squid and sardines, as well as migratory fishes such as tuna and billfish.

The researchers share responsibility with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's science center in Seattle for gathering information on salmon and rockfish.

Several of them also teach at UCSD, which leases property to the federal government for its fisheries center.

La Jolla residents were briefed about the replacement complex during a recent community planning meeting. Some expressed concerns over the project's effects on parking and neighborhood aesthetics.

As currently designed, the new complex would have 202 parking spaces – 172 more than the current facility.

Since the fisheries center opened in 1964, most of its workers have parked on nearby streets that also are used by students at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and other branches of UCSD.

“Our aim is to take most of the cars from our personnel off the streets, which I think the neighborhood will appreciate,” Bartoo said.

Fisheries officials said views should not be affected significantly because the roofs for the new complex would be painted green to blend in with the landscape.

The public will have more chances to comment on the project, which must be approved by the California Coastal Commission.