New Features in the Works for the Orange County Great Park

“In addition to expanding the Great Park’s current footprint by 15 percent, the construction of the South Lawn will generate more than 50 full-time equivalent construction jobs for the Orange County economy.

‘The Great Park is proud to move forward with latest phase of the Park, but also proud to contribute to the local economy,’ said Mike Ellzey, Chief Executive Officer, Orange County Great Park Corporation. ‘The development will substantially increase our active space at the Great Park and create badly-needed construction jobs, which will have an important positive economic impact in Orange County.’”—Orange County Great Park

In June, the Orange County Great Park announced the plans for the next building phase at the park. Allocated for this phase of development is $22.8 million of the $200 million in developer fees paid by Lennar in 2005. Beginning construction for this stage of the project was scheduled for July and is expected to take 12 to 18 months.

Here is a breakdown of the planned expansion features.

South Lawn

  • Four tournament-quality soccer fields (two will be synthetic grass and lighted for evening use)

  • Four full-size basketball courts

  • A new restroom and operations facility building

  • Jogging and exercise trail

  • More than 400 tree plantings

Replace the Temporary Visitors Center with a Permanent Visitors Center Pavilion

  • New 5,000-square-foot Visitors Center Pavilion (This will be the Great Park’s first new permanent building and will be located near the Great Park Balloon.)

  • A larger lobby

  • Restroom facilities

  • Concession area

  • Exhibition areas

  • Office space

Walkable Historical Timeline (currently includes a 750-foot walk through history)

  • Timeline expanded to 2,604 feet

  • An additional 100 historical details

  • Timeline will act as a natural connection between the existing Great Park Balloon and the South Lawn.

Water features

  • Six new ponds (the first Great Park water features)

  • A connection from one of the ponds to the Walkable Historical Timeline

  • A viewing pier near the entrance to the Great Park

Community Garden (adjacent to the existing Farm + Food Lab)

  • Ninety-nine plots including six Americans with Disability Act-compliant plots

  • A community gathering area (consists of an open turf area with a large shade tree and picnic tables)

Storm Water Collection System: (state-of-the-art storm water management system designed to offset up to 40 percent of the South Lawn’s irrigation needs)

  • Storm water captured, filtered, and stored in the new South Lawn ponds

  • Storm water mixed with reclaimed water from the Irvine Ranch Water District

Infrastructure: (These construction features will enable future Great Park development.)

  • Underground utilities

  • Electrical equipment and lighting

  • Drainage improvements, irrigation systems

  • Asphalt and concrete

  • Fencing and landscaping

  • The foundational backbone for the future electronic security system

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