Description

The botanical gardens during the Panama-California Exposition of 1915 held in San Diego's Balboa Park. La Laguna de las Flores, now known as the Lily Pond , from the west end of the footbridge that divides the visible south pond from the north pond immediately in front of the Botanical Building. The lagoon was also known as the Laguna de Espejo or Reflecting Pool. In the distance on the left is the Commerce and Industries Building, also known as the Canadian Building, the Museum of Natural History, the Palace of Better Housing, and the Electric Building, before it burned down in 1978 and was reconstructed as the Casa de Balboa. In the distance on the right is the Foreign Arts Building (or Foreign Liberal Arts Building), later known as the House of Hospitality. On the immediate left is the Varied Industries and Food Products Building, renamed the Foreign and Domestic Building (1916), then the Palace of Food and Beverages (1935). After the building was closed in 1968, it was reconstructed by architect Richard George Wheeler (1917-1990) and reopened in 1971 as the Casa del Prado. On the immediate right is the Home Economy Building, later known as the Pan-Pacific Building, Cafe of the World, and American Legion Building before being demolished in 1962.