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:

During May 2017, a group of residents met with OC Fairgrounds (Orange County Fair and Event Center aka OCFEC) staff and presented their ideas for how to improve the OCFEC during the Master Site Plan process. The complete presentation is available here  Download Community Master Plan Executive May 17

 Highlights from the presentation are follow.

Proposals center on the Community, Agricultural, Recreational, Educational Space and Programming (CARES Space and Programming). This is a community-centered series of alternatives. These are reasonable and feasible alternatives which maintain current programming while allowing for increased use by both the community and revenue generating groups.

Alternative 1 is to remodel and improve existing structures which are currently in use. 

The next 4 alternatives create green space by relocating parking to a parking structure behind the billboard at the corner of Newport Blvd and Fair Drive. A legal settlement with the City of Costa Mesa limits occupancy outside of the annual OC Fair to about 25,000 persons, which is about the number served by the current number of parking places. No new parking spaces need to be added because of the cap on occupancy. However, parking can be relocated to create open space and make the OC Fairgrounds feel more like a fairground and less like a huddle of buildings hiding in the back of a huge parking lot. 

Alternatives include moving the main entrance to Newport Blvd and making the needed changes to make traffic move quickly off the 55 Fwy and into the parking lots. Stacking traffic waiting to park or making cars turn onto Fair Drive and then onto Fairview Road or even onto Arlington Drive to park should be eliminated because OCFEC has more than enough space to stack cars waiting to park on their property and not on City streets. 

Walking paths are included in the Alternatives to connect the Arlington Drive trail with the interior of the property to provide recreation the the community and to aid in pedestrian flow inside the property.

Unlike the Master Site Plan proposals brought forward by Johnson Consulting, the open space was supposed to be open space with grass or plants and not trees in a parking lot as proposed in the proposals from Chicago based Johnson Consulting. The alternatives also maintain the current footprint of the annual OC Fair. 

What are your ideas for a new Master Site Plan for the OCFEC?

The rides are in the process of being fixed if the rides have not already been fixed. In summer of 2017, a Fireball ride manufactured by KMG broke apart and killed one person. The G Force ride at the OC Fair was closed after the accident as a precaution.  An inspection of the damaged ride revealed problems with corrosion. Fixing the problems include replacing the gondolas and new inspection routines. G Force was closed for several days and reopened after repairs were made.

In California, amusement rides, including carnival rides, are overseen by the Amusement Ride and Tramway Unit of the Department of Industrial Relations.  Reporting requirements include submitting a schedule of locations the at which the ride will be used,  submitting information about  new rides or alterations to existing rides, and reporting injuries, accidents, or major mechanical failures. The district office for Southern California is at 2000 E McFadden Ave, Suite 210, Santa Ana, CA 92705. (714) 567-7211

An industry group, Council of  Amusement and Recreational Safety Equipment (CARES) works to disseminate information on service bulletins from ride manufacturers and consults on ride safety regulations.  Some of the information available from CARES includes technical bulletins,  how the nationwide ride tracking system is implemented, and a list of rides with specifications for non-destructive testing (NDT).