The San Diego skyline is different ­­– for now. The iconic San Diego Convention Center Sails Pavilion fabric roof is gone, but only temporarily.

The final pieces of the original roof, put in place back in 1989, were completely removed in early September, leaving the Pavilion truly open-air. Instead of exhibitors filling up our 90,000 square foot exhibit space, there is now scaffolding that reaches up to 80 feet high.

Currently, crews are installing rigging that will be attached to the scaffolding, and will be used to begin lowering the 10 blue masts that have been in place to hold up the Sail.

The project is running right on schedule.

Crews will continue removing the old masts until the week of October 13, when a nearly 200-ton crane will be brought in and used to lift the masts out of the Sails Pavilion and onto trucks behind the convention center. That same crane will be used to lift the new masts up and back into the Sails Pavilion in early November.

The overall look of the second-generation roof (made of PTFE - teflon coated fiberglass fabric) will remain the same as the original roof.

Watch this video update from our President & CEO Clifford "Rip" Rippetoe, featuring timelapse video of the Sails Pavilion coming down.

This renovation project is just one of the many infrastructure improvements and enhancements underway at the convention center. A loan from the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) to finance $25.5 million in capital improvement projects in June 2016 has helped fund many of these projects. That's in addition to the San Diego Convention Center's ongoing investments in its capital projects and building maintenance.