done for the fair the park was permanently transformed and is now a major cultural center, housing many of San Diego's major museums. Even before the end of the first year of the expo, an organization was established to determine how the temporary buildings could be developed for museum use. The exposition also led to the eventual establishment of the San Diego Zoo in the park, which grew out of abandoned exotic animal exhibitions from the Isthmus portion of the expo. During the expo, Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, told reporters that San Diego would become a Navy port. This declaration would gradually result in multiple Navy installations in and around San Diego that continue today. Shortly after the end of the expo, the Army and Marines temporarily used several empty expo buildings until nearby bases were completed. Later exposition and rebuilding The California Pacific International Exposition at the same site in 1935 was so popular that some buildings were rebuilt to be made more permanent. Many buildings or reconstructed versions remain in use today, and are used by several museums and theatres in Balboa Park. In the early 1960s destruction of a few of the buildings and replacement by modern, architecturally clashing buildings created an uproar in San Diego. In 1967, citizens formed A Committee of One Hundred to protect and preserve the park buildings. They convinced the City Council to require new buildings to be built in Spanish Colonial Revival Style and worked with various government agencies to have the remaining buildings declared National Historic Landmarks in 1977. In the late 1990s, the most deteriorated buildings and burned buildings were rebuilt, preserving the original style. Centennial The City of San Diego had planned a major observation of the 2015 centennial of the Exposition. The park institutions was to have special programming for the centennial; specific programming within the park but outside the City leaseholds. The most ambitious proposal was one which would remove vehicle traffic and parking from the central Plaza de California and Plaza de Panama, using a newly constructed ramp off the Cabrillo Bridge to divert vehicles around the California Quadrangle to a parking structure behind the Organ Pavilion. The proposal was controversial and was eventually dropped due to legal challenges. Throughout 2015, multiple events and exhibits were held to commemorate the centennial. Exhibition map References Bibliography Further reading The Official Guide