Saturday, May 1, 2010

Great Park Feasibility Study Update

Great Park Fire Museum – Safety Center Feasibility Study

Here is an update on how we are doing with our Feasibility Study for the Orange County Great Park.

Since our Feasibility Study Presentation to the Great Park Board on January 28, where it was recommended the matter be continued to a meeting in March, nothing has taken place as of yet.

We have had one meeting with the Great Park Design Studio after the presentation which was not very productive. At this meeting a discussion was held regarding a new approach which included a phasing of the building plans. A future meeting was scheduled to further discuss this phasing plan. Also the presentation of our reworked plan was tentatively set for the May 20 Great Park Board meeting.

We were then notified that our next Design Studio meeting would be canceled and the May 20 date for our presentation would have to be postponed to a future Great Park Board meeting.

The reason given for no further GP Design Studio meetings and the postponement of our May 20 presentation was because the GP Design Studio had run out of funds to work on our feasibility study. This meant they would have to return to the Great Park Board to request addition funds to complete our unfinished Fire Museum – Safety Center Feasibility Study.

To date we have seen no item in the Great Park Board Meeting Agendas to indicate this request for additional funds for our study was forth coming??

Last week I had a meeting with a GP Board member to see if I could gain any insight on our feasibility study. Nothing has been discussed at any past board briefings or from any other board members regarding our future return to the board. I asked if this could be brought up at the April 22 GP Board meeting. It is felt the Board and Design Studio is overwhelmed with all the feasibility studies and the change from design to construction phase at the Great Park. Most of the board is unaware of our “no funds available” aspect regarding our feasibility study. Some board members have not seen a copy of our 265 page feasibility study book.

I attended the April 22 Great Park Board meeting and did hear some discussion regarding our feasibility study and why it had not been rescheduled. Chair Agran commented that we were over due for our return and hoped it could be scheduled for the May board meeting.

After the meeting was adjourned I spoke with several board members who were surprised and unaware of the insufficient funds to continue our feasibility study and suggested I talk to Assist. CEO Cliff Wallace. I did talked to Cliff Wallace and he indicated he would see what he can do to get this back on track.

Yesterday I sent a e-mail to the GP Design Studio to see if they had any updated information on our study. There reply stated, “ we are working on another strategy, will have to get back to you at a later date. We want to assure you your project is forefront in our plans.

Stay tuned for any further updates also on Twitter and Facebook.