The Pride flag at Normal Street and University Avenue has for more than a decade, been the start of the Pride Parade and several other gatherings in Hillcrest. If all goes to plan, in a year, the community will have a park, and to go with it and a permanent space for its farmer’s market. Hillcrest Business Association Executive Director Ben Nicholls can’t help but show his excitement for the Normal Street promenade about to be built. “What you’ll have is this expanded gathering space with the Pride flag in the middle of it. This spot has become one of San Diego’s great spaces, so we are going to build it out and make it into the welcoming place it needs to be,” Nicholls said. For 12 years the Pride flag has been the start and finish of parades, block parties, celebrations and moments of mourning. Despite gatherings of thousands of people, there is no place to be but the street. “We as a community, getting together is part of the culture. It’s part of the fabric,” Nicholls said. What will the finished Normal Street Promenade project be like? The plan calls for raising the west side of Normal Street to curb level from University east to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The city’s renderings indicate a large space for gathering. It’s a park-like atmosphere with tables and umbrellas. A bike path, 8 feet wide, will run down University Avenue and into the new plaza. When creating a public gathering space in a community like Hillcrest that has been targeted in the past, safety has to be top of mind. Nicholls says he’s paying close attention to the hard lessons already learned from the Bourbon Street attack in New Orleans. “The thing that was under attack there, was people coming out and celebrating. That’s what Hillcrest is all about,“ Nicholls said. Investigators say the gunman in the French Quarter drove around law enforcement vehicles to get into the crowd. “It’s not enough to have a police car across the street anymore. You have to have physical barriers that are deterrents but don’t make it look like a fortress,“ Nicholls said. Generally business owners in the area say they’re excited about the new plaza but not the next year of construction. Michel Najef owns Micho’s Lebanese restaurant across the street from the Pride flag. “We’re not totally looking forward for all the dust and noise,“ Najef said. Besides construction, he is afraid the park might draw bad actors. “Just this morning somebody messed up the whole front. The plants, they broke all the plants,“ Najef said. Plaza construction will force the farmers market to University Avenue between Herbert Street and Park Boulevard. Traffic will be rerouted.  Parking spaces is another concern among business owners, but Nicholls says the project will have a net gain of 25 new spaces. Hillcrest has long been known as the heart of the San Diego’s LGBTQ community. The new Normal Street Plaza may very serve as the heart of Hillcrest. The business association which operates the Hillcrest Farmers Market says rain or shine, the Hillcrest Farmers Market will continue to operate every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the temporary location.