Long-Delayed Project Will Open This Month at Back Bay Preserve
While the eyes of meeting and convention planners are largely turned toward Anaheim as the Convention Center remodel and other projects near completion, another facility that will be a showplace for Orange County is taking shape quietly in Newport Beach. After a 10-year delay, the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center at Newport Beach’s Upper Newport Bay is scheduled to open to the public Oct. 14, following a 300-person fundraising gala at the 10,000-square-foot center Oct. 12. The $8 million center, which will feature 15 hands-on interactive exhibits about the Upper Newport Bay and its environment as well as meeting space, will offer educational programs to the general public, teachers and school groups. And though the center falls under the auspices of the county’s Public Facilities and Resources Department, meeting planners looking for unique venues in a relaxing atmosphere are taking notice. “We do not want this to become a recreational or banquet facility, but we are planning to raise between $15,000 and $20,000 a month through renting,” said Parks District Supervisor for Coastal Facilities Patti Schooley, who added that the goal is to have about one event per week at the center. Funding for the center has come mostly from the County of Orange, which provided $5.8 million. Another $1.8 million has come from private donors, with OC residents Peter and Mary Muth donating $1 million. The additional $0.86 million is being gathered through fundraising. “We are well on our way to attaining the goal of raising the needed monies,” Elia said. She said the center will open on schedule and an adjacent amphitheater will open once the funds are raised.
The 60-person amphitheater will be used mostly for outdoor lectures, and is part of an additional 12,000 square feet of outdoor space available for events. Schooley said the hope is that the center will become a destination for visitors.
While there are no proposed fees for tours of the facility and the exhibits, the county is anticipating a $2 parking fee, in line with those at other park facilities. The county also is finalizing the fees for private groups’ use of the facility.
“The center will be the premier recreational facility in the county,” said Penny Elia, event and marketing supervisor for the center. The project was originally designed in 1990 and the building was slated for construction in 1994, but the county’s bankruptcy interrupted those plans, putting the center on hold and changing the scope of the project. “We were forced to scale down the project,” said Schooley. “However, this is the most unique and costly park facility the county has ever developed.” The county plans to integrate the center with the nearby fish and game preserve and other park departments.
Future fundraising is being discussed, to keep capital available to allow the center to rotate exhibits and bring in new ones.
The Oct. 12 fundraiser is an invitation-only event, with 300 people paying $135 apiece to attend. The Interpretive Center, near the intersection of Irvine and University avenues, is at the opposite end of the Back Bay from another popular destination, Newport Dunes. The Newport Dunes Resort Hotel, a 581,000-square-foot, 370-room hotel, took a step closer to construction when its most recent reconfiguration was given the blessing of the city’s planning department. The Newport Beach City Council is tentatively expected to vote on that project next month. The resort also will include 31,000 square feet of meeting space. n
