Join the 13,000+ people who get Times of San Diego in their inbox at 8 a.m. every day ... or “The Sandcastle Man,” is building a three-dimensional sculpture out of sand on Mission Beach.

With this year’s conference being in San Diego, management opted for sandcastle-building, and La Jolla Shores was recommended by the San Diego Parks & Recreation Department, Cox said.

Seeing walls of sand on the beach in front of the Hotel Del Coronado? They’re not the work of amateur sand castle builders, here’s why city crews are putting them up.