Robinsons to receive lasting tribute

Jenifer Ragland

UPPER NEWPORT BAY -- This peaceful and serene slice of nature that

thousands of bikers, hikers and joggers enjoy year-round would not exist

without Frank and Francis Robinson. It’s that simple.

But the fight the Robinsons waged against the Irvine Co. -- and at times,

it seemed, an entire county bent on turning the bay into a marina -- was

anything but simple.

They will be recognized for their efforts next week, if Orange County

leaders approve a proposal by Supervisor Tom Wilson to name the exhibit

room in the new Upper Newport Bay Interpretive Center after the

Robinsons.

“Naturally, we are very excited,” Frank Robinson said. “I think that made

Francis very happy. It’s going to be quite a spectacular place.”

Wilson also is proposing to name the building -- which is being built

into the hillside at University and Irvine avenues -- the Peter and Mary

Muth Interpretive Center, after the Santa Ana residents who donated $1

million to get the $3.5-million project started.

“Peter and Mary have been very generous in terms of donations to make

that interpretive center come true, and Frank and Fran have been active

since the ‘60s,” Wilson said. “I thought it more than appropriate to

recognize their generosity and commitment to the Back Bay for the long

term.”

The 10,000-square-foot center, which the county expects to have completed

by March, will house exhibits of nature visitors are able to find within

the protected estuary. Outside the building will be a sod roof, which

will double as a lookout point, and an amphitheater modeled after a

bird’s nest.

Once built, it will be the county’s largest nature center.

The Robinsons began their fight for the bay in 1963, when Francis heard

of plans to close off a public beach near the family’s Dover Shores home.

Later, when they found out that the Irvine Co. wanted to purchase the

property for what they believed to be a paltry sum, they fought all the

way to the highest courts to stop it. Ultimately, they helped the bay

become the state ecological reserve it is today.

Frank Robinson said he and Francis met the Muths, longtime county

residents and philanthropists, at a dance club the couple belonged to in

Santa Ana.

“That was 20 years ago, when we could dance,” joked Frank Robinson, now

81.

Bob Caustin, president of Defend the Bay, said he thinks it’s wonderful

the Robinsons are being recognized.

“I’d like to see whole thing named after Frank and Fran -- without them,

the whole thing would be homes and docks,” Caustin said. “It was an

incredible vision they all had, and it’s wonderful they are seeing this

in their lifetime.”

Wilson said he hopes to have some kind of ceremony for the Muths and the

Robinsons before the center’s grand opening.