640 benches, back in place before the park woke up.

The Spreckels Organ Pavilion has anchored Balboa Park since 1915. For MASTERPIECE, its 640 outdoor benches come out so the plaza can be set for the gala, and every one of them has to go back in place the next morning before the park opens. The window was tight and the count was real: 640 benches, every one of them steel, every one of them heavy.

A start time of 5 a.m. is not glamorous, but it is how a job like this gets done cleanly. Events and galas run on the venue's schedule, not the mover's, so we planned around the reset deadline and the park's opening, not our own convenience. Our crew worked in pairs, kept the historic pavement and colonnade protected, and had the whole field squared into straight rows well before the park filled with visitors. No forklifts, no shortcuts, just a crew that shows up when it says it will.

Patrons of the Prado raises money for the arts and cultural institutions that make Balboa Park what it is, and MASTERPIECE is their signature annual event. Being trusted to reset their landmark venue, in our own city, is exactly the kind of work we are proud to do. It is also what our crews do year-round as San Diego event and venue movers: gala setup and teardown, seating and furniture resets, load-in and load-out, and commercial moves where the count is high and the window is tight.