The city of Irvine voted unanimously on Jan. 10 to direct city staff to implement plans for a veterans memorial park and botanical garden at the city’s Great Park, after plans that included a veterans cemetery at the location fell through in 2021.
The location in the park for the proposed project, known as the ARDA site, was formerly home to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, which was in operation for 60 years before closing in 1999.
For years Irvine residents alongside councilmemwber Larry Agran have advocated for the memorial, as well as a veterans cemetery, at the location.
But in 2021 Irvine council members were unable to agree on the location at the ARDA site, and county officials instead proposed Gypsum Canyon in Anaheim Hills instead, which is still awaiting approval by state officials.
The council’s vote directs city staff to plan for the demolition of the ARDA site before the end of March, and establish preliminary designs for the memorial and gardens by Feb. 28.
Planned for the location will be a 125-acre botanical garden and a memorial site—of which the size is still undetermined—that will consist of military planes on display, a renovated airway control tower, dedicated memorial spaces, and a library, encircled by trails and trees.
While the garden will have an entry fee to sustain its operations, the veterans memorial will be free, according to city staff.
During the meeting, there was an ongoing discussion about what to call the new site, as most of it will be the botanical garden and only a handful of acres will be dedicated to honor fallen veterans.
For now, officials said, the site will be unnamed.
The city will pay for costs to demolish and clean up the proposed site, as well as historic preservation costs, to be paid for by the City’s Great Park Development Funds and reimbursed partially or wholly from federal funds.
