Five years on, downtown’s post-pandemic resurrection is mixed

DOWNTOWN – The Museum of Illusions, a recent edutainment entry in the Gaslamp, was filled with a diverse crowd on a Friday last month.

First dates, families and friend groups looked at the eye-deceiving installations. Staff members posed visitors for trompe-l’œil photos to make it seem like they were hanging sideways from surfboards or climbing a rope up an Old Town building or falling infinitely through a tunnel.

Blocks away, another museum geared up for a bash of a different kind the following evening. It was the final goodbye to WNDR San Diego, another museum blending entertainment and education through immersive art installations that operated for the past two years before closing for undisclosed reasons.

WNDR Museum was among multiple recent shutterings of renowned places in downto