New modular building to replace trailer at Kendall-Frost Marsh

The 50-year-old outdated trailer serving the scientific research and educational needs of Kendall-Frost Marsh in Pacific Beach is to be replaced by a permanent modular structure. But the popular mural on the trailer being torn down this week is not going away. It will become part of the marsh’s new replacement building.

“The new 1,400-square-foot modular building will be about twice the size of the old trailer, and the new building will be much more functional in doing research, education, and public service, which is our mission,” said Heather Henter, executive director of the UC San Diego Natural Reserve System adding, “We hope to finish by the end of the year.”

Plans for the new building include it being separated into north and south sections with a laboratory, a multipurpose room, storage space, and overnight accommodations for researchers. Uses in the new building will include community meetings, events, and classes.

Henter added the new modular building will be constructed in four parts before being “put together onsite.” With the old trailer gone by then, those using the marsh while the new structure is being assembled will need to meet on the Crown Point dirt lot on the north end of Crown Point Park.

What’s going to happen to the trailer’s existing colorful mural?

“That is the most frequently asked question I always get,” said Henter. “The answer is that the mural depicting the people who’ve worked at the marsh and the organisms in it has been taken down. But it will be incorporated into the new building’s colorful panels. We are working with UC’s art faculty to have students do this as a project. They are going to restore or re-create the mural for us. Re-purposing the mural is practice for the work they’ll be doing for their clients once they become professionals.”

Henter discussed the purpose of the UC Natural Reserve System. “The mandate of the UC Natural Reserve System is for education, research, and public service,” she said. “They’re not state parks. Recreation is not a part of the mandate.”

Henter said local students of all ages have availed themselves of educational and scientific opportunities at Kendall-Frost Marsh. “We’ve had K-12 classes here and Mission Bay High School students have been coming for decades to do projects to understand how science is done,” she said. “We’ve had classes from High-Tech High in Liberty Station. We’ve also had grade-school kids planting native plants and engaging in other educational uses at the marsh.”

Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve offers researchers and educators the opportunity to use outdoor laboratories for scientific discovery and classrooms. Natural reserves are a vital resource for measuring the effects of climate change and developing strategies to reverse it. The network demonstrates the utility of undeveloped green spaces not intended for recreation.

Since the 1960s, Henter noted Kendall-Frost has been important scientifically as a natural laboratory for research into wetlands restoration, or other basic topics like removing invasive non-native species. “Currently, one focus is on carbon sequestration, as coastal wetlands are some of the best habitats in the world for capturing and storing carbon because it gets stuck there in the wet salty mud,” she said.

KENDALL-FROST MISSION BAY MARSH RESERVE

Kendall-Frost is part of a 20-acre University of California Natural Reserve System on the northern shore of Mission Bay. Administered by UC San Diego, the site is owned by the University of California and managed for teaching and research. In 1952, Lena Kendall and the A.H. Frost estate donated two parcels of the upper marsh to the University of California. In 1965, the site became one of the first seven reserves in the newly established Natural Lands and Water Reserve System, now known as the University of California Natural Reserve System.

The reserve ranges from high marsh to submerged shoreline and includes coastal salt marsh, mudflats, tidal channels, and salt flats. Subtidal habitats feature eelgrass beds that shelter juvenile fish and invertebrates. As one of the few remaining wetlands in San Diego, the reserve attracts many bird species, including some that are rare. The marsh is used by students and scientists to study salt marsh ecology and practice field research techniques. Restoration efforts, such as a project to rid the marsh of invasive species, have helped to improve the functioning of the habitat and improve conditions for native species.