The Orange County Great Park….

Effectively Communicating an Important and Complex Message to the People of Orange County, the

Nation and the World

•MCAS El Toro History

•Struggle to Determine Future Use

•The O.C. Great Park Plan

•Communicating the Message

•Q & A

Communicating the The Orange County Great Park Plan….

A Little History• The Navy purchased the Marine

Corps Air Station (MCAS) property from the Irvine Company.

• The Base opened in March, 1943

History of MCAS El Toro

A Little History

MCAS El Toro Openedon March 17, 1943

A Little History

MCAS Base Logo Designed by Walt Disney

A Little History

A View from Above…

Five asphalt runways and over 27 miles of paved

highways

A Little History• The 4,700-acre property includes

runways, aircraft maintenance and training facilities, housing, shopping and other support facilities.

• For 50 years, the base served as a master jet air station and permanent center for marine aviation on the west coast.

• In 1993 the Navy slotted MCAS El Toro for closure.

• MCAS El Toro officially closed in 1999.

History of MCAS El Toro

Future Use of Closed Base

• How to use the 4,700 acres at MCAS El Toro …one of most O.C.’s controversial issues

• City of Irvine had strong vested interest in the conversion of the base from military use to civilian use:

4,300 acres in Irvine’s Sphere of Influence

440 acres are in the City’s boundaries

• Nine-year battle and 4 voter initiatives. Over $100 million spent by both sides:

- Pro-Airport - Non-aviation

A Little History

• Measure W Passes, March 2002

Ensures non-aviation use for El Toro

Determined that the reuse would preserve the base for Open Space & Recreation

• Navy Announces Plan to Sell El Toro

• City and Navy Work to Develop a Plan to Meet all Interests: Navy Wants $, People Want to Preserve Open Space

• July 2002, Navy/City Unveil O.C Great Park Development Plan

Great Park Plan

The Great Park Plan

4,000 acres (84%) open to public uses

Over 2,500 acres dedicated to public ownership

By comparison Balboa Park is 1,200 acres, Golden Gate Park is 1,017 acres and Central Park is 843 acres

CentralPark

GoldenGatePark

Balboa Park

Development includes residential, business parks, retail services, a college campus, commercial recreation and golf courses.

Private sector to fund ALL public improvements and dedications of public lands.

The Orange County Great Park

Navy (Property Owner): Owns and maintains property Responsible for environmental

clean-up GSA (Real Estate Agent):

Prepares property for sale Solicits prospective buyers Sells the Property

Irvine (Land Use Authority): Leads land use planning effort Entitles and annexes property Ensures orderly development

Irvine, the Navy and the GSA have well defined roles

How it gets sold…the Great Park Plan

Property sold in 4 parcels.

1,049 acres total

382 acres dedicated to public ownership 860 Residential units 1 Msf Business park

225,000sf Retail Center

Parcel 1

7,800 student university campus.

200 acres of private agriculture.

How it gets sold…the Great Park Plan

Parcel 2

103 acres of agriculture.

1,678 acres total.

508 acres dedicated to public ownership.

1,100 residential units

45-hole golf course

Commercial recreation site.

73 acres private cemetery

430 acres dedicated to public ownership.

How it gets sold…the Great Park Plan

Parcel 3 610 acres

1,500 residential units.

75,000sf of Office.

75,000sf of Retail.

How it gets sold…the Great Park Plan

Parcel 4 204 acres total. 49 acres dedicated to

public ownership.

1.6Msf of business park adjacent to the Irvine Spectrum.

34 acres of Auto Center adjacent to the existing Irvine Auto Center.

The Orange County Great ParkWhen it will get built…

Irvine City Council certifies EIR in May 2003

GSA begins public sale auction.

Annexation complete Fall/Winter 2003 - estimated completion of GSA public sale auction.

Sales transactions completed by GSA in Spring 2004.

The Orange County Great ParkWhen it will get built…

II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IVYear 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Roads, Utilities, Riparian and Wildlife CorridorCompleted in phases - 24 months

First phases of grading andsite development

Sports Park Construction Completed - 18 months

Meadows ParkPhase 1 - 9 mo.

First CommunityOpenings

Meadows ParkPhase 2 - 9 mo.

Meadows ParkPhase 3 - 9 mo.

Meadows ParkPhase 4 - 9 mo.

Sales and construction for additional 7 yrs.

I

Groundbreaking -- Runway Recycling Program - 5 yrs.

Design Plans for Parks in Phases - 24 months

Master Plan and PermitCompleted - 12 months

Builders complete subdivisionand development plans

Final Engineering Plans - 24 months

GRAND

OPENING

LAND

TRANSFERS

Sports Park, Roads, Utilities, Riparian and Wildlife Corridors, First Phase of Meadows Park

Open within 3 years

Meadows Park completewithin 5 years

Project has a 10 year build-out

A Little History

Role of the Communications Professional

(That’s Us!)

Ensure the message/issue is communicated effectively

to target audiences

A Little History

Key Messages

The OC Great Park Plan honors the Intent of Measure W and carries out the will of the people of O.C.

Preserves an incredible amount of of open space in the six largest metropolitan area in the nation

Developed at no cost to taxpayers

A Little History

Target Audiences…

• Irvine Residents

• OC residents (2,940,000)

• Developers and investors

• General Public nationally/worldwide

• Mass Media(also a major partner in communicating the message) - Broadcast- Print

Press Conference

Need a “Big” Hook to Attract Media

Big News…Major Announcement!

Big names: Under Secretary of Navy, Mayor

Held at the Base…giving media opportunity to take photos and video

Hear it here first. No information released before the press conference

Access to key players… makes it easy for media to get interviews, sound bites, photos

Promise to give them good stuff! Press packet, CD with graphics, photos and info

A Little History

Key Elements of a SUCCESSFUL Press Conference

•Meet the Media’s Needs…1) Convenient time of day2) Risers, lighting; audio feed 3) Handouts, CDs, useful material4) Refreshments5) Parking – accessible for broadcast vans6) Interview opportunities7) Post materials on website for easy access

•Results…Was the message effectively communicated to your target audiences?

A Little History

City of Irvine/Dept. of Navy Press Conference

MCAS Officer’s Club, July 2002

Q & A

The Orange County Great Park….A County-Wide Communications

Effort