JP San Diego | Jurassic Field Guide

The original Jurassic Park, initially built to house various species of Dinosaurs nearby the San Diego coastline, even inside an Amphitheater! The place was abandoned once Hammond set the Park on Isla Nublar instead.

Ecosystems

Located in:

California, United States

Coordinates:

Aprox. 32°46'16.3"N 117°13'29.3"W

Predominant Biome:

Unknown

Seen in:

The Lost World Jurassic Park (1997)

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Description and History:

Jurassic Park San Diego is a sister location and predecessor to the Jurassic Park located on Isla Nublar. It was part of John Hammond's original plans for the Park, and some of it was even successfully built, until eventually a change in plans made the San Diego Park be abandoned, and the acquiring of the Costa Rican Islands as Park Ground was then set.

It's unclear at what time in history JP San Diego started construction, the earliest date being around 1981. With its abandonment in favor of the Isla Nublar Park in 1985. The Park would present a giant Amphitheater where Species of Dinosaurs would periodically enter for exhibition. The Amphitheater itself consisted of 4 levels of which guests could observe and watch the Dinosaurs in its interior.

It would be only in 1997 that Peter Ludlow, new CEO of Ingen, would work on a plan to rebuild and finish Jurassic Park San Diego, as an attempt to recover the lost investment led by John Hammond in the failed Isla Nublar. The operation led to an Expedition being made on Isla Sorna, Ingen's Site B, to capture both adult and young specimens of Dinosaurs, as Ludlow himself said: "You don't bring people halfway around the world to visit a zoo, you bring the zoo to them!"

The Operation would show to be a complete disaster, as all captured Dinosaurs would be set free by Sarah Harding and Nick Van Owen, the only successfully captured specimens would be two Tyrannosaurs, a male adult and its infant. The adult would then be set free at the streets of San Diego, marking it as the first Dinosaur to step into the Mainland. After such incident and Ludlow's death, Jurassic Park San Diego would end up abandoned once again, it is unclear if by now the Amphitheater was demolished, or still lies by the coast, as a reminder of its tragic stories..

Park Layout and Landscape:

Visitor Rotundas

Ingen's Dock/Coast

Exhibit Paddocks

Amphitheater

Lakes

Paths & Walkways

Forested Areas

Not a true ecosystem but instead a locality, Jurassic Park San Diego was planned to be extended over kilometers, directly by a coastline and dock on San Diego. The exact locality of the Park is unknown, but it was likely close to Ingen's Waterfront Complex also located in San Diego.

On your right, you'll see our own rendition of the San Diego Park. Three different medias were used as a definitive look for the Park's Layout, those being a Maquette seen on Isla Sorna, the Park itself while under construction, and a concept art presented to Ingen's Investors. While it is not an official map, we tried to stay faithful to what is seen in the movie.

The layout shows the Amphitheater as the main attraction in the center of the Park, with water moats and bridges connecting two Exhibit Paddocks north of it. Other four Paddocks would be built south of the Amphitheater. On the far north, various Rotundas would be built, likely for Guest needs such as Restaurants and Plazas. The Park would be fenced in an octagon-shaped entrance at the south, formed by tall rock walls.

Interestingly too, the Amphitheater would show a Holding Paddock at its north, which we do see in the movie as the infant Tyrannosaurus stayed there.

Holding Paddock

Fauna:

It's unclear which Dinosaurs exactly were planned for Jurassic Park San Diego, both during its initial opening in the 80s and during its attempted revival in 1997. However, the Expedition led by Peter Ludlow in 1997 for its revival can show us some of the planned Species that Ingen likely had in mind for the Park. As seen in the movie, Ingen would send a capture team of dozens of men on the Northeastern portion of Isla Sorna. Consequently, the inhabitants of that side of the Island were captured and held in a temporary Camp by Ingen.

The first day of capturing led to various Herbivorous Dinosaurs being captured, some such as Triceratops and Stegosaurus had both Adult and Young specimens captured, likely to be raised in San Diego. The only Carnivorous Dinosaur captured during the first day was Compsognathus. It's unclear if other Northeastern inhabitants such as Velociraptors were planned to be captured by Ingen for the Park.

Despite their efforts, Ingen's camp would eventually be sabotaged by Nick Van Owen and Sarah Harding, as an attempt to stop the shipping of the Dinosaurs off the Island. The incident would lead to severe casualties, with few Ingen staff managing to make it off the Island by the time a rescue team came by. On top of that, two Tyrannosaurus specimens, an adult and its infant, would be captured by the Expedition's commander, Roland Tembo. The poor shipping conditions would lead to the adult wrecking havoc on San Diego, the search for its infant eventually led to its recapturing, and both were re-introduced into Isla Sorna.

Fauna captured from Isla Sorna, planned for the Park:

Pachycephalosaurus

Coniferous Parasaurolophus

Compsognathus

White-Footed

Gallimimus

Leatherback

Stegosaurus

Clouded

Triceratops

Tyrannosaurus

Flora:

Sadly due the fact the Park was never finished, there's no known traces or data regarding the Species of Plants that would be present at Jurassic Park San Diego. Judging by the Concept Arts presented at the Ingen Investors board, Palm Trees, a type of Tree predominant in San Diego, would be used primarily for ornamental purposes all over the Park. It is possible that common extant trees from San Diego could also be used to fill the forested areas and Exhibit Paddocks, notable examples being Podocarpus, Pepper, Tipuana, Ficus and Eucalyptus Trees. Species of the last two were present on Isla Nublar even.