Local Spotlight: Orange County Great Park

Spotlight on the Great Park development coming to Irvine…

After 14 years, the time has almost come. The Orange County Great Park in Irvine is currently under construction while some of the major amenities that have been promised to Orange County residents are being built. The decommissioned Marine Corps air station El Toro is the site of the new Great Park, located over 3,700 acres. It now houses newly-constructed homes, artists’ studios, the Farm + Food Lab, a farmer’s market, and the landmark Great Park Balloon. However, much bigger plans for the park have been on the backburner.

1,347 acres of the former air station (an area that is larger than New York’s Central Park) were donated for the development of the OC Great Park way back in 2002. Plans to develop a major sports complex, a 26-acre lake, a cultural terrace, performing arts venues, botanical gardens, and a wildlife corridor connecting the Cleveland National Forest to the Laguna Coast Wilderness were quickly announced, but have stalled over the last decade.

USS Cal Builders

Now, in 2016, the 175-acre sports complex is finally under construction as promised. The sports complex will be constructed in four phases. Phase 1 will include a soccer stadium, a volleyball stadium, a tennis stadium, twenty-four tennis courts, five volleyball courts, six soccer fields, and a playground, with an expected completion in early 2017. A softball complex and a baseball complex are expected to be completed in early 2018. The entire sports complex, with basketball courts and multi-sport fields, may be completed as early as 2019.

Ongoing plans for the park include a full golf course with clubhouse, various museums, an impressive library, an Olympic-size ice rink, a 2.5 mile-long canyon, and the development of the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre following the closing of the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine.

New homes continue to be built around the park and property values in the neighborhood will presumably increase. Once completed, the OC Great Park will be the largest park in Orange County.