Since opening in 2021, the $85 million Rady Shell at Jacobs Park has hosted concerts by such music legends as Billy Joel, Sting, Diana Ross and former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant. At each of those concerts, members of the public without tickets were able to watch and listen for free from the public promenade that circles the bayside venue, which was built by and is operated by the San Diego Symphony.

That won’t be the case at Friday’s private Curebound charity benefit performance by English pop superstar Ed Sheeran.

Citing public safety and crowd control concerns, the Port of San Diego has given its permission for a portion of the 12-foot-wide public promenade — to the immediate left and right of the venue — to be closed to pedestrians. It was prompted to do so after receiving a memo from Harbor Police Chief Magda Fernandez expressing concerns about the potential for throngs of Sheeran fans showing up in hopes of seeing the concert without a ticket.

Ed Sheeran performs on NBC’s “Today” show at Rockefeller Plaza on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, in New York.

(Charles Sykes / Charles Sykes/invision/ap)

Acting Port CEO Randa Coniglio signed off on the closure request.

Given that the concert is a private event with limited tickets, Fernandez said “the promenade could easily be overwhelmed with others wishing to catch a glimpse of the show, thus creating a public safety hazard with a constrained ability for emergency vehicles to access the venue and for people to exit easily in the event of an emergency.”

Responding to queries from the Union-Tribune about the unusual closure, Fernandez reiterated her department’s ongoing concerns about maintaining public safety at the venue.

“We urge the public to abide by the rules for the promenade for this and all events at the Rady Shell,” she said. “… Our goal and responsibility is to protect the public and ensure everyone has a safe and enjoyable experience on the waterfront at all times.”

Craig T. Hall, the San Diego Symphony’s vice president for marketing and communications, noted that Sheeran’s performance is not a stand-alone concert but part of a private fundraiser, for which The Shell was rented from the symphony. Despite its billing as Curebound: Concert for Cures, it will include dinner, speeches and other non-music-related elements.

“Our facility team is working with the Port and with the Harbor Police, as we as we do for every event at The Shell, in preparation for Curebound,” Hall said.

“Neither any renter of The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park nor the San Diego Symphony can make a decision to close the public promenade surrounding the venue. The promenade is always open, unless the Port deems there is a security issue.”

The port’s safety-minded decision comes despite a strictly worded lease for The Shell stipulating that the public be allowed on the venue’s adjacent public promenade year-round, 24/7, including when concerts are being held.

Those concerns appear justified. Sheeran’s recently concluded U.S. stadium tour saw him outdraw both Beyoncé’s and Taylor Swift’s 2023 tour stops at some of the same venues. His tour concluded with a sold-out Sept. 23 Los Angeles date at SoFi Stadium that attracted a record crowd of 81,000, eclipsing the attendance at SoFi for last year’s Super Bowl.

Sheeran’s scores of fans tend to be mellow and well-behaved, their piercing shrieks of adoration notwithstanding. But the capacity for the multiple-Grammy Award-winning troubadour’s nearly sold-out concert at The Shell is no more than 5,000. Given the sheer number of Sheeran’s fans, it’s not unreasonable to anticipate a sizable turnout of those without tickets angling for a spot on the promenade to watch and hear him perform.

Friday’s concert won’t be the first time the promenade will be closed for a concert, but it is the first time the decision to do so has been disclosed in advance. The Shell’s promenade was also closed for the Sept. 2 Flume performance last year and Seven Lions’ June 17 concert, the port said. Both Flume and Seven Lions are favorites of electronic music fans, and their shows at The Shell were both sell-outs.

Crowds gather on the bayfront promenade outside of The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park to watch Olivia Rodrigo’s sold out show free of charge on May 18, 2022.

(Courtesy, San Diego Symphony)

For Friday’s Curebound event, Port spokesperson Brianne Page clarified that the walkway from the convention center leading to the concert venue will remain open because it is not designated as an emergency vehicle access lane and is wider than the promenade closer to the Rady Shell.

While the port, as a landlord, is required to ensure that the promenade remain open to the public at all times, it also must guarantee that emergency vehicles can use the path as a fire lane. The Friday closure, Page said, will be managed by security staff working for the event venue. Harbor Police officers will also be present for Sheeran’s show to conduct enforcement as needed, she added.

There is some precedent for port concerns about devoted music fans flocking to the promenade to see their favorite stars.

Sold-out shows last year by teen-pop phenom Olivia Rodrigo and the duo of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss drew so many fans to the walkway that Port commissioners earlier this year approved a new law that bans the use of large, sidewalk-blocking items like tents and coolers on the promenade before and during events at the Rady Shell. It also prohibits people from sitting on, climbing or otherwise hanging out on the rocks, called riprap, next to the promenade.

Those new restrictions did not sit well with the California Coastal Commission, whose mission is to ensure broad access to the shoreline and public tidelands. In a March email to the port at the time, coastal program analyst Melody Lasiter noted the commission’s concerns.

“The ability of the general public to access the perimeter of the site and listen to music at no cost was an important component envisioned in the Port Master Plan to provide public benefits since a private entity was locating and operating a venue in a public park,” she said. “The current proposal seems excessive.”

Upon learning Wednesday of the planned promenade closure for the Sheeran concert, the Coastal Commission’s enforcement chief said her department plans to look into it.

“We were not given any notice of this closure last week,” said Lisa Haage, Chief of Enforcement. “The Commission is very concerned about public access to this area, since it’s built on State tidelands and is a very popular spot. Coastal access was central to the permit for this facility, and we are actively looking into this.”

Michael Brown, the port’s vice president of marketing and communications, emphasized the singular nature of Friday’s Sheeran-headlined event.

“We understand the Coastal Commission’s concern,” Brown said. “Public access is important to the Port of San Diego and it is our intention to keep the promenade open as much as possible and as long as public safety can be maintained.

“We are prioritizing public safety over public access. This is a very short, temporary closure — a larger part of the promenade is open at all times. The last thing anyone wants to happen in the event of an emergency is for people to not be able to quickly and safely exit the venue or emergency services to be blocked or delayed from getting inside the venue.”

For Sheeran’s concert, the symphony is renting The Shell to Curebound. Founded here in 2021, the San Diego nonprofit — a collaborative effort between Padres Pedal the Cause and the Immunotherapy Foundation — has awarded more than $23 million to fund dozens of initiatives to fund lifesaving cancer treatment and research.

Sheeran’s performance was booked for Curebound by the San Diego Padres’ Special Events division, which also booked last year’s Curebound inaugural benefit concert at The Shell featuring Alicia Keys. That concert, which also featured the San Diego Symphony, raised more than $3 million.