About the Master Plan

The Orange County Fair board of directors and staff has embarked upon the development of a 10-year strategic Master Plan for the 150-acre OC Fair & Event Center. Once implemented, Master Plan will offer the community a broader range of educational, recreational and cultural programming and entertainment aimed at uplifting the heritage of Orange County and its people.

The Board adopted the Master Plan in August 2003, which was followed by the certification of the Environmental Impact Report in September 2003. Since then the Board and staff have developed a five-year implementation strategy that takes into account current and future needs and priorities of the property and identifies the projects within the first six phases of Master Plan that will be implemented.

PHASE 1
This phase involves grading and construction of a new parking area west of the Equestrian Center (EQC). The existing EQC, including stalls, trainer areas and riding arenas will be reformatted, and the area for boarding and training horses will be located on the eastern 7 ½ acres of the property. Other changes indirectly related to Master Plan include the relocation of one of the Fair buildings (#33) to the livestock area where it will serve as the classroom building and headquarters for The Ranch After-School Program.

PHASE 1A
Each phase of the Master Plan calls for drainage and water quality improvements. To initiate these projects, the Fair will work with the City of Costa Mesa to create an overall plan for storm drain improvements along Arlington Avenue, which includes clarifying the run-off water on the property prior to the water reaching the storm drain.

PHASE 2
This phase includes renovation of the Pacific Amphitheatre and possible removal of the earthen berm surrounding the structure. Before a final decision is made on removing the berm, research and sound tests will be undertaken. We are acutely aware that there are concerns about noise and programming and want to assure everyone that the Fair is sensitive to these concerns and committed to being a good neighbor.

PHASE 3
Phase 3 focuses on landscaping and improvements to the entries to the OC Fair & Event Center, including the Main Gate located on Fair Drive; the Mesa Gate on Newport Boulevard and Mesa Drive; Vanguard Gate at Fair Drive and Vanguard; and the Merrimac Gate at Fairview and Merrimac. This phase also involves the relocation of the electronic reader board at Main Gate and the addition of a monument reader board sign on the west side of the fairgrounds, near the entrance on Fairview.

PHASE 4
Phase 4 will begin with removing an existing building (#17) and constructing in its place a new exhibit building with a commercial kitchen. It also involves landscaping, paving and lighting improvements to this area of the Main Mall.

PHASE 5
Phase 5 consists of the construction of a covered breezeway linking two existing exhibit buildings (#14 & #16) and architectural design improvements to all of the property's five exhibit buildings (#10, #12, Parade of Products, #14 & #16). In addition, landscaping, paving and lighting improvements will be made to the Main Mall area.