The ballpark that almost wasn't  A brief primer on the history of Petco Park

After a phenomenal 1998 season culminating in the San Diego Padres’ second trip to the World Series, San Diego City voters approved Proposition C by a 60% majority, initiating a private/public partnership to build a new, baseball-only ballpark.

Construction began in the summer of 2000 but, due to pending litigation, was halted in October of the same year when permanent financing could not be arranged.

While the assault on the will of the People continued in the courts, the ballpark site lay empty and still for sixteen months until January, 2002, when the last of sixteen lawsuits was resolved in favor of the City of San Diego.

On February 15, 2002, the City sold bonds to complete the financing of the construction.

Work on the ballpark resumed on February 18, 2002. The earliest photos shot by myself and posted on this website were taken two days later.