By the summer of 2029, Irvine’s Great Park could have ready a veterans memorial garden, 15 acres of lush green botanical gardens, a 14,000-seat amphitheater, a retrofitted Hangar 244 with places to eat, a USA Water Polo aquatics facility and several more destinations for locals and visitors.
On Tuesday, March 14, Irvine councilmembers deliberated and prioritized the next phase of projects to be completed in the 1,300-acre Great Park within in the next six years. Already it is home to a 194-acre sports complex that is twice the size of Disneyland with ball fields, a soccer stadium and sand volleyball courts; trails; an arts pavilion; and, most recently, Wild Rivers, among other features.
Councilmember Mike Carroll, who serves as the chairman of the Great Park Board (made up of the councilmembers), called the day “one of the most important” as more than $720 million in spending was identified.
About 125 acres at the Great Park’s northern edge, typically referred to as the ARDA site, will house the botanical gardens, which will incorporate a tribute to veterans as well as culturally and biologically themed landscaping, all surrounded by a perimeter park with forests and trails. The Cultural Terrace West is 35 acres that will include a new Pretend City Children’s Museum and the Flying Leathernecks museum.
Orange County Music and Dance, headquartered in Irvine and currently serving nearly 400 students ages 18 months to 18 years, will also have a new home in the Cultural Terrace West to create a space for the early education in the arts.
City staffers have said that the most requested amenity in the Great Park is a place to eat and drink, so Hangar 244 in the center of the sports area and close to the Great Park balloon, carousel and artist galleries is set to be refurbished into a contemporary food hall, with multiple cuisine offerings.
In February, the council voted to stick with concert provider Live Nation to build a 14,000-seat amphitheater in the heart of the park. While negotiations are ongoing, the $130 million cost of the concert venue – with the city contributing $110 million and Live Nation the rest – was factored into the funding for this next phase.
Groundbreaking for some projects could start within the next 30 to 45 days, Great Park Executive Director Pete Carmichael said. Demolition would go on until the summer of 2025 likely, but groundwork and utilities installation is expected to begin next summer.
While the total cost for this phase of development is estimated at a little more than $720 million, city staffers have allocated a total budget of $1 billion as a contingency, according to city documents. Funding is expected to come from revenue generated from Great Park operations, including program fees and Mello-Roos tax revenue.
In city staffers’ proposal for phase one priorities, the previously announced USA Water Polo aquatics facility was not included.
However, during public comment speakers overwhelmingly favored prioritizing the $90 million, three-pool facility ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics that will take place in Los Angeles. It will also be available to the community, USA Water Polo is committed to funding $12 million of its price tag.
With water polo one of the “most winning sport for the United States in the Olympics,” Carroll said it was a “no-brainer” to include the facility in this next phase of Great Park development.
City staffers warned the Great Park’s existing farm and food lab, an organic horticulture area, will have to be relocated for the aquatics facility.
As next steps, city staffers will return with a reimagined plan at the next Great Park Board meeting on April 11 to identify what other elements could be pushed to future phases to make way for the aquatics facility.
Carmichael also said the Great Park team will launch a website in April with before and after imagery of the Great Park.
