Irvine officials say they have grand plans for turning the Great Park into something beyond a large regional sports park, with new museums, lake system, amphitheater, food and dining options, and more on the docket over the coming years.
“This is the most ambitious park development project in the United States,” said Irvine City Council member Mike Carroll, who chairs the board overseeing build-out of the Great Park.
The Great Park Board reports it plans to spend nearly $1 billion on the expansion. At build-out, the park should run nearly 1,350 acres.
All well and good, but perhaps the city could start by first addressing some more modest issues, like a functional traffic and road system to get crowds in and out of the Great Park efficiently during busy events.
The multi-hour traffic delays for crowds coming and leaving the July 4 fireworks and drone event left visitors fuming, and shows the city still has work to do on providing the basics; an 8 p.m. Pacific Symphony performance at Great Park Live was delayed, as performers and attendees were stuck in a traffic bottleneck.
Rather than directing money to wasteful spending projects at the park, namely a gondola concept that’s bound to be a boondoggle, money would be better spent improving the design of the main entrance into the Great Park.
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Kudos to Diane Challis Davy, director and producer of Laguna Beach’s Pageant of the Masters, for highlighting regional museums, art and artists during this year’s production, titled “Gold Coast: Treasures of California.”
Maybe the best Pageant of the past decade? Decide for yourself; it runs through Aug. 29.
Along with the Hilbert Museum at Chapman University, Dana Point’s Waterman’s Plaza and Modjeska Canyon get plenty of attention during this year’s performance, though OCMA was surprisingly left out of proceedings.
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Hollywood ties run strong for David Pyle and his family.
When the National Endowment for the Arts in May announced the withdrawal of a $20,000 grant to South Coast Repertory for the production of “The Staircase” by Noa Gardner, up stepped the Pyle family’s OneRoot Foundation to backfill the funding.
David Pyle, founder and CEO of Irvine-based American Career College, said the gift was made in honor of his late father, actor Denver Pyle, who appeared in more than 200 films and TV shows, and is perhaps best known for his role as Uncle Jesse in “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
Last month, a real estate venture headed by Henry Pyle, David’s son, closed on the $7.2 million buy of a Costa Mesa office along Baker St.
The seller? Records indicate it was a Cagney Enterprises, a Dana Point real estate firm born out of the holdings of the late film producer and actor William Cagney, the brother of James Cagney.