April 2018 OC Fairgrounds Master Site Plan Concept and Proposed Phasing Released

04/03/2018

The OC Fairgrounds (Orange County Fair and Event Center aka OCFEC) has released the draft of the process for the Master Site Plan and draft proposal with phasing of costs. Problematic elements featured in the prior Master Site Plan proposal such as demolition of the recently constructed Main Mall and construction of massive convention center buildings have been removed from the proposal. The proposed phasing of the construction is:

Phase I - Expand Administration Building at a cost of $22.9 million.

Phase II - Replace livestock barn, upgrade Action Sports Arena & equestrian facilities relocation and upgrade at a cost of $21.8 million.

Phase III - Repurpose current equestrian center space at a cost of $16.1 million.

Phase IV - Build new education center and upgrade Centennial Farm at a cost of $27.4 million.

Phase V - Install perimeter fence at a cost of $9.4 million.

Phase VI- Relocate Main Entrance to align with Main Mall at a cost of $50.8 million.

Phase VII - Build parking garage and bridge to OCC at corner of Fairview Road and Arlington Drive.

A draft proposal is posted to be considered at the April 2018 Board meeting and is available for download here. Download CHJC-OCFEC-Board-Presentation-April-2018-FINAL-DRAFT_040218

The constraints placed on the proposal included:

No negative impact on the annual fair
Engage the OC Marketplace ownership on proposed changes
Review parking and engage Orange Coast College in parking opportunities
Insure education facility needs are reviewed
Re-visit community opportunities
Review Equestrian Center and Equine opportunities

The Master Site Plan Process Milestones to date are:

Early to mid-2016 developed a Request for Proposal (RFP) to find a Master Site Planning (MSP) consultant
Awarded a consulting contract to Johnson Consulting November 2016
First quarter of 2017 information gathering
January 2017 OCFEC Board of Directors stakeholder meeting
March 2017 OCFEC staff stakeholder meeting
April 2017 on grounds partners stakeholder meeting
May 2017 facility users stakeholder meeting
June 2017 Community partners stakeholder meeting
June 2017 Town Hall public meeting
September Board of Directors workshop
Late 2017 early 2018 Develop CEQA consultant RFP

The next steps are:

April 2018 Board of Directors workshop – work towards finalizing draft MSP concept
Date, TBD, (Evening, May 2018) hold public meeting to present the draft MSP concept
April 2018 award CEQA consultant contract
Over the next several months work through the CEQA process

Posted at 11:34 AM in Agriculture, Carnival, CEQA, College Park, EIR , Equestrian Center, Finances, Master Site Plan, Meeting Presentations, Neighbor Issues, OC Fair, Traffic, Year Round Events | Permalink | Comments (0)