IRVINE, Calif.—A number of old structures will be torn down at Irvine’s Great Park in order to make room for overflow parking and outdoor events, the city council approved Mar. 22.
Demolition will affect the Great Park at its Lease and Furtherance of Conveyance site, in the southern end of the park, which is still owned by the Navy due to the park being a former military base.
The project, which includes removing asbestos, demolishing structures, paving the landscape, and adding protective fencing is estimated to cost the city $3.5 million.
The area contains five structures, four of which are “derelict” and will be demolished, with an old public works shop being saved and turned into a community center, Great Park Manager Steve Torelli told The Epoch Times. The derelict structures include old storage sheds, warehouses, and a water pump building.
“After studying all the buildings, we figured out that [the public works shop] could actually be savable and usable,” Torelli said. “The rest of them are in such bad shape that it would cost more money to try to rehabilitate them than if we wanted to tear them down and rebuild them.”
Construction is set to be from June to September this year, Torelli said.
Once completed, not only will the space be more aesthetically appealing, Torelli said, but there will be 15 acres of a paved area—where the old buildings were—making room for 1,500 parking spots and outdoor events. There will also be a 10-acre dirt lawn area right next to the parking lot.
Torelli noted that the increase in the use of the park’s sports fields, which are across the street from the project site, have caused the park’s current large parking lot to no longer be used for outdoor events since it is used for parking, creating a greater need for the site to be developed.
The city will soon put out a bid to construction companies who are interested in completing the project and will choose “the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.”
