Marine studies center gets $1-million boost

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- Though a marine studies center at Shellmaker Island

is $1 million closer to becoming a reality, the feasibility of building

the state-of-the-art facility remains in question.

The City Council on Tuesday accepted $1 million from the U.S.

Department of Fish and Game to help build the center for joint use by the

department, the city, the county, UC Irvine and other agencies.

As planned, the site will house water-quality testing, educational

facilities that include an artificial tide pool and a new crew center for

the university -- all sheltered in a center so state of the art that the

structure itself helps preserve the quality of local waters. The project

also includes restoration of the Shellmaker nature trail and wetlands.

But the delicate environment the center seeks to preserve could

instead spell doom for the project. Because Shellmaker Island is

basically a pile of dredged-up material, it’s unclear if the ground is

solid enough to build the one-story building there.

“We just don’t know yet what the site is capable of holding in the way

of a structure,” said City Atty. Bob Burnham, who said that a

geotechnical survey or other studies will ultimately provide the answers.

For this and other reasons, Burnham said, it is difficult to project

how much the center will cost. Official estimates that have ranged from

$4.5 million to $7 million are rough estimates at best, he said.

About $3 million to $3.5 million is now available for the project,

much of it from the American Trader oil spill settlement.

City officials and environmentalists have praised the proposed center

as a cutting-edge solution to local water-quality challenges. County

officials have already moved water-quality testing to temporary trailers

at the site in anticipation of a permanent laboratory there. The

Department of Fish and Game plans to manage the Upper Newport Bay

Ecological Reserve from the center.

The $1 million the city accepted Tuesday will go mainly toward

creating detailed plans for the center.

“This is the chance to get the design phase to a point where the

community, especially Dover Shores, can see the plans and determine

whether they have any concerns about the center,” Assistant City Manager

Dave Kiff said.

Current plans are for a site with a permeated parking lot to control

runoff, a design that would drain rain water off the roof into plants, as

well as nonobtrusive solar panels for power, Kiff said.

He added that additional funding for the project could come from state

Proposition 40 funds. Proposition 40, which passed on May 5, provides

state funds for parks.