Heritage Community Park Master Plan Update
Today at 5:30PM the Community Services Commission will be providing comments on the draft Master Plan concept for Heritage Community Park. The public is welcome to attend and provide comments.
Per the staff report, “the draft Master Plan, as shown in Attachment 3, was developed following extensive community outreach. Staff requests the Community Services Commission (Commission) review the concept and provide comments that will assist in finalizing the draft Master Plan. Staff will then prepare the document for environmental review, public hearing, consideration, and approval at a future Commission meeting.”
Click here to see a pdf version of the preliminary draft master plan below.
Exciting new features for the community are:
- New Community Center (#1)
- New splash play area (#3)
- Two pickleballs courts (#5)
- Expanded Fine Arts Center (#11)
- Tai Chi/Flexible Workout Area (#13)
- Possible future library location (#17)
One significant change is the new proposed parking lot (#14) that would cut through the large field to add much needed parking spaces.
External Conditions
External conditions were noted in the staff report that would need to be resolved prior to finalizing the Master Plan including the Orange County Public Library’s lease agreement and Irvine Unified School District’s plans to build a new 650-seat Performing Arts Center for Irvine High School. The staff report states:
In 1981, the County of Orange and the City of Irvine executed a 55-year lease agreement for the Heritage Park Regional Library located on City property. The library building is aging and requires modernization or construction of a new building. The City and the County of Orange signed a Memorandum of Understanding that expires in 2022, to set aside funds for rehabilitation or new construction of libraries in the City. The City Council recently established a negotiating subcommittee to commence discussions with the County of Orange.
The projects and considerations outlined in this section are important because they must be included in any environmental analysis for the Master Plan. Therefore, any outstanding issues associated with either OCPL or IUSD must be resolved prior to finalizing the Master Plan.
Cost Estimate
Per the staff report, “a preliminary planning-level design and construction cost estimate of approximately $58 million was prepared for the preferred Master Plan concept. Components of projects will be prioritized and developed as funding becomes available. Improvements range from $110,000 for additional sports courts to $14-30 million for construction and modernization of buildings.”
To provide comments and attend tonight’s Community Services Commission meeting click here for details.
5 Comments
rgurien
September 1, 2021 at 12:22 pmLast time I read about this (maybe in April of this year?) the City was proposing to use ARPA funds for this project. I sincerely hope that is not where the funds are coming from, since there are barely any pieces of this project that would be considered worthy of ARPA fund usage.
Branda Lin
September 1, 2021 at 12:26 pmHeritage Park has served our community when our population was only 50k and was built in the 70-80s.
The Fine Arts Center, the Community Center, fields and courts provide public benefits even now and the updates are something to look forward to.
However, it would be great if we could build another Heritage Park. Our city could definitely benefit from it with our population over 307k now. There’s a lot of open space in the Great Park to build a community benefitting project like Heritage Park for Irvine residents — not just traveling teams from outside the state/country — but for Irvine residents specifically.
If only….
Branda Lin
September 1, 2021 at 12:33 pm@rgurien You are correct. Our city was planning on spending $42M out of the $53M (now the amount is higher) in American Rescue Plan money meant for COVID-19 relief on updating Heritage Park and very little to help small businesses and residents who faced challenges due to the pandemic, but then decided not to hold a hearing after all. There have been no updates from the City as to how that money is going to be spent and what the plans/priorities are. The public deserves transparency and an opportunity to weigh in on how to spend this money in our city. Residents would provide a perspective on needs in the city better than anybody. Will we have an opportunity to be heard?
Branda Lin
September 1, 2021 at 4:47 pmWhat I’m concerned about is the new parking lot (#14) that cuts through the field. Green space is not something we can get back once we build on it. I’d like that field protected from being paved over with asphalt if at all possible.
irvinerezident
September 1, 2021 at 5:15 pmI agree with you Branda. I would rather bear the inconvenience of lack of parking spaces then see the green space go away.
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