With a $150 million plan to revamp the North Embarcadero under way, San Diego's original waterfront will undergo some major changes. Meanwhile, a proposal to change the South Embarcadero has divided many San Diego residents and business firms.

The North Embarcadero plan is less controversial, although it is still being planned out. In 1997, members of the North Embarcadero Alliance signed a visionary plan to redevelop the waterfront between Seaport Village and Lindbergh Field. The plan encompasses public infrastructure improvements for the area bounded by Market Street on the south, Laurel Street to the north, the railroad right of way to the east and the San Diego Bulkhead line to the west.

The North Embarcadero Alliance Steering Committee endorsed the proposed improvements in December 1998, and the Board of Port Commissioners certified the final Environmental Impact Report in April 2000.

The alliance comprises the San Diego Unified Port District (SDUPD), the city of San Diego, county of San Diego, the Navy and the Centre City Development Corp.

Plans for the North Embarcadero include the creation of a bayside esplanade for pedestrians, bicycles and green space, as well as the redesign of the aesthetic elements at the Broadway Pier with the foot of Broadway as a focal point.

Currently, the North Embarcadero Alliance is working on the schematic design for the North Embarcadero, which it expects to complete by February 2004. On Aug. 7, the Port of San Diego authorized the development of the schematic design.

Karen Weymann, assistant director of real estate for the Port of San Diego, said the North Embarcadero Alliance expects to issue a notice by Sept. 16 to proceed on the contract for the North Embarcadero and have further meetings in November and December.

But much of the plan is still abstract, according to Rita Vandergaw, SDUPD marketing director. "We have some drawings," said Vandergaw, "but they're conceptual in terms of what they show."

She added, "We do have an infrastructure plan for landside improvements, but plans for the project are not finalized."

The plan's major elements would include the creation of a bayside esplanade of approximately 125 feet in width to include room for pedestrians, bicycles and green space, as well as the redesign of the aesthetic elements at the Broadway Pier with the foot of Broadway as a focal point.

Other project elements include the widening of Pacific Highway and the addition of center landscape medians, reconfiguration and new landscaping on Harbor Drive north of Grape Street, redevelopment of Harbor Drive south of Broadway and redevelopment of the east-west streets in the project area.

The plan could also include a tree-lined boulevard at Pacific highway, two civic precincts at the County Building and at the foot of Broadway, and expanded parking areas.

"The schematic design is the first major step of the design," Weymann said. "It means that we will look at all of the constraints to developing the infrastructure. We're looking at the area as a whole -- what are the utility conflicts, where can the trees be placed and so on."

As the North Embarcadero plan is being worked out, two proposed developments for a 12-acre site located in the South Embarcadero were scrapped earlier this year by SDUPD, which plans to hold another design competition. The original proposals by Ripley Entertainment Inc. and GMS Realty generated some controversy.

Currently, the site for development at the South Embarcadero includes a 3-acre historic old police headquarters, a 4.1-acre park and a 4.97-acre site on the northwest side of Seaport Village called Harbor Seafood Mart.

GMS proposed a $65 million project called One Pacific Highway, which would offer a retail, restaurant and entertainment complex with a maritime theme.

One Pacific Highway would have razed the buildings on the Harbor Seafood Mart property, established a public market in the old police headquarters, and torn down 62 percent of the 1930s-era Spanish Colonial Revival buildings.

Ripley proposed a $94 million aquarium in a complex that would have included a science center, bumper boats, a dinner theater, a Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum and a parking garage.

The Ripley proposal also included demolishing 23 percent of the old police headquarters. The San Diego Police Historical Association favored the Ripley proposal over GMS', but many San Diego residents eschewed both proposals.

In the end, the SDUPD decided to open up the competition to other designs.

"We first evaluated the projects that (GMS and Ripley) submitted and asked them to try again," said Randa Coniglio, SDUPD's senior asset manager for real estate. "In the end, neither proposal was accepted. That process concluded without any developer being selected."

She said that SDUPD has not chosen a date for the new design competition. "We had a board workshop on July 15 and made some very preliminary decisions toward putting together the competition," she said. "We want it to be successful this time, so there's a lot of decisions that need to be made and information that needs to be provided to the designers, so that we can have a successful design.