Orange County Great Park - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Orange County Great Park is the official name of a plan for the public, non-aviation

Aviation

Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...

reuse of the decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station El Toro

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located near Irvine, California.Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps aviation on the West Coast. Designated as a Master Jet Station, its four runways could handle the largest aircraft...

in Irvine, California

Irvine, California

Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...

. The county park will comprise just 28.8% (1347 acres (5.5 km²)) of the 4682 acres (18.9 km²) total that made up the old MCAS El Toro base. It is a $1.1 billion project approved by the voters of Orange County in 2002. The park opened its first attraction, a balloon
(designed by Aerophile SA

Aerophile SA

Aerophile SA is a French company specializing in tethered helium balloons, which offer a safe aerial experience from a fixed location.- History :...

) ride that takes visitors to 500 feet (152.4 m) for a panoramic view of the construction of the park as well as views of the county, on July 14, 2007. A second attraction, the Kids Rock playground, opened on July 10, 2010.

Original plan

The former air station

Air station

Air station may refer to:* AirStation is the name given to a series of wireless LAN equipment sold by Buffalo Technology* Airbase* Naval air station* A station to refill an air car....

was initially planned for development into a major international airport

International airport

An international airport is any airport that can accommodate flights from other countries and are typically equipped with customs and immigration facilities to handle these flights to and from other countries...

. Opponents of the plan challenged the need for two airports in Orange County

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

(El Toro

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro

and John Wayne Airport

John Wayne Airport

John Wayne Airport is an airport in an unincorporated area in Orange County, California, with its mailing address in the city of Santa Ana, which is also the county seat, hence the International Air Transport Association airport code. The main entrance to the airport is off of MacArthur Blvd in...

) only 7 miles (11.3 km) apart; however the El Toro Marine Station is not a commercial airport and the nearest commercial airport to John Wayne is Ontario Airport over 30 miles (48.3 km) away. Concern also was expressed regarding the safety of the proposed airport since commercial aircraft would have to take off over mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

terrain where one major military transport crash had occurred over 50 years prior.

The re-use of the air station was voted on by the residents of Orange County four times. When it was announced that the airport would revert to civilian use in the early 1990s, citizens near the airport immediately opposed any continued use of the site for aviation purposes. However, in the late 1990s a majority of Orange County voters approved the use of the site for commercial aviation. In March 2000, opponents of the airport, mostly residents of wealthier Southern Orange County and who would be directly in the proposed flight paths, were able to qualify for the ballot "Measure F," which required that any new construction of jails, landfills or airports would require a 2/3 majority vote. With a large financial backing and a fear of "NIMBYism" a resounding 67.3% of voters passed Measure F, effectively killing the potential airport project. In 2001, Orange County voters passed "Measure W" authorizing the former air station's use as a Central Park/Nature Preserve and multi-use development. The measure passed with 58% of the vote due to the lack of any other viable alternatives for the former site since the airport concept was effectively killed a year earlier.

Park plan

In 2002, after lengthy debate that lasted for over a dozen years, Orange County voters rejected the commercial airport plan and designated the land for park compatible uses. The history of the controversy is chronicled online by the El Toro Info Site http://www.eltoroairport.org and in a book, Internet for Activists.

In November 2003, the city of Irvine annexed the air station property and was thus able to determine the Great Park's future by zoning

Zoning

Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...

.

Following the annexation of the property, the Department of the Navy held an online auction for the El Toro property. Miami- based Lennar Corporation

Lennar Corporation

Lennar Corporation is a Fortune 500 company based in Miami, Florida, United States, in the Fountainbleau area. It was founded in 1954.In 2008, Lennar was the United States' second largest homebuilder, constructing homes in 17 different states throughout the United States, including Arizona,...

purchased the entire property for $649,500,000 and entered into a development agreement with the City of Irvine. Under the terms of the development agreement, Lennar was granted limited development rights to build the Great Park Neighborhoods in return for land and capital that will allow the construction of the Great Park.

The agreement required Lennar to deed 1347 acres (5.5 km²) to public ownership and contribute $200 million towards the development of the Great Park. Future property owners will contribute an additional $200 million toward the park's development.

The Great Park Plan focuses on the 1347 acres (5.5 km²) public of the property and includes a 2.5 miles (4 km) canyon, a 26 acres (105,218.4 m²) lake, botanical gardens, a cultural terrace, lawns, performing arts venues, a sports park, and a wildlife corridor connecting the Cleveland National Forest to the Laguna Coast Wilderness. At 1347 acres (5.5 km²), the Great Park will be larger than New York's

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

Central Park

Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

, San Francisco's Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...

and San Diego's Balboa Park.

When completed, the park will be the largest municipal park in Orange County. The original plan for the infrastructure of the Great Park was virtually identical to Newport Center

Newport Center

Newport Center is a business, shopping, and entertainment district located on a high bluff overlooking Newport Harbor in Newport Beach, California. Newport Center is also famously dubbed "Fashion Island" amongst locals. It was created in the early 1960s as part of William Pereira's master plan for...

, with five roads connecting into a central loop road separating the park into "blocks". The design was later modified to include a large section of runway and conform more to the layout of the original base, as a reminder of its history. Most prominent in the park plans is the restoration of Agua Chinon Creek, which had been channeled underground ever since the base was built in the 1940s.

Recently however, in the midst of a U.S. housing crisis, Lennar has struggled to fulfill its part of the bargain, including delayed construction of planned housing and of a 'community facilities district'.

In addition to trees that will be moved and replanted on the base, Southern California Edison has committed to contributing 50,000 trees to the Great Park.

Features of the park

The Canyon long

A 60 feet (18.3 m) depth and a cooler climate deeper in the canyon
A lake for boating
Streams and pools will run the length of the canyon, which carries Agua Chinon Creek south-southeast into San Diego Creek
San Diego Creek
San Diego Creek is a waterway flowing into Upper Newport Bay in central Orange County in the U.S. state of California. Its basin covers in parts of eight cities, including Irvine, Tustin, and Costa Mesa. The major tributary of the northeast-flowing stream is Peters Canyon Wash, which joins a few...
Bridges will cross the canyon at different points including the "Bridge of 2 Towers" which will provide a zig-zag path across the widest portion of the canyon

Cultural Terrace

Museums
Library

Botanical Garden

Proposed 60 to 70 acres (283,280.2 m²)
A garden bridge designed by architect Enrique Norten will connect the botanical garden to the cultural terrace.

Sports Park

Proposed amenities include soccer fields, bat and ball fields, a skateboard complex, rock climbing wall, field house
A great lawn

Wildlife Corridor

A 3 miles (4.8 km) long corridor for wildlife migration
The corridor will link Cleveland National Forest in the north with Crystal Cove State Park
Crystal Cove State Park
Crystal Cove State Park is a state park of California, USA, encompassing of Pacific coastline, inland chaparral canyons, and the Crystal Cove Historic District of beach houses. The park located in Newport Beach. Crystal Cove is a stretch of coastal cliffs and a beachfront cove situated between...

in the south.

Veteran's Memorial

Great Park Air Museum
Vintage aircraft on the remnants of the runway

Golf Course

Will be Orange County's largest golf course, at 27 holes, possibly 45
Former El Toro Golf Course being renovated

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.