As San Diego’s convention center transitions to a homeless shelter, the inevitable question arises, will Comic-Con still be taking over the bayfront venue come July when more than 135,000 people would normally be heading downtown for the four-day event?

Organizers of the pop culture extravaganza still haven’t made a decision and might not have to do so until June, San Diego Tourism Authority CEO Joe Terzi said Monday. So far, all major conventions have canceled for April, and two larger medical meetings still scheduled for May are likely to bow out, Terzi added.

The city of San Diego announced Monday that the San Diego Convention Center and Golden Hall will both be used as emergency shelters in the coming months to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the city’s homeless community.

Comic-Con organizers confirmed Monday that they still expect to hold their July convention in San Diego.


“We applaud the actions of the city as they offer additional support to some of our community’s most vulnerable in these unprecedented times,” Comic-Con said in an emailed statement. “And while we continue to explore WonderCon dates, we are diligently working on Comic-Con. Currently, our hope is that the event will occur July 23-26, 2020, as scheduled.”

Comic-Con’s sister show, Wonder Con, which was scheduled for April in the Anaheim Convention Center, already has canceled, and organizers are trying to reschedule it. That decision was made after the state Department of Public Health advised against holding public gatherings of 250 or more people.

Terzi echoed the comments of Comic-Con organizers.

“We have been in constant contact with Comic-Con, which just went through a very difficult situation with Wonder Con,” Terzi said. “In our last conversation, which was last week, they said it’s business as usual and they continue to plan for July in San Diego. Logistically, it’s a very complex event to have, and they have a lot of work they have to do but they’ve been doing it for more than 40 years.


“From a noticing standpoint, my belief is they would have to make a decision by June.”

Meanwhile, many conventions, large and small, have canceled their planned meetings in March and April, including the American Association for Cancer Research, which had originally expected 24,000 attendees from around the globe to attend its annual meeting in late April. Terzi said there are still two larger conventions on the books for May — the Heart Rhythm Scientific Sessions and Advanced Wound Care Symposium — but he expects they will be canceled or postponed. The Heart Rhythm Society, whose meeting would normally draw 11,500 attendees, is expected to make a decision by April 6.