ON THE AGENDA A HOME FOR...

ON THE AGENDA

A HOME FOR HUSCROFT HOUSE

A longtime plan to move the Huscroft House to a permanent home at

Fairview Park will most likely be scrapped tonight, as council

members again ask the long standing question: What should be done

with the rotting piece of Costa Mesa past?

The City Council has yet to take any formal action on the Huscroft

House -- originally built in Santa Ana in 1915 but moved to Costa

Mesa by the Huscroft family in 1950 -- but the overwhelming consensus

among council members is that the house will not be moved to Fairview

Park as previously planned.

Home Ranch developers have pledged $200,000 to cover the costs of

moving the house. Staff estimate that it will cost about $190,000 to

move it, about $10,000 for maintenance and about $8,000 each year to

operate it as a public facility.

Council members have said the Home Ranch money, donated by the

Segerstrom family, is only just enough to make the project work, so

they will again look at options for the house, which is currently

being stored on a lonely perch on Arlington Drive.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Council members have reluctantly expressed diminished support for

moving or restoring the Huscroft House and are expected to negotiate

with the Segerstroms for alternate spending of the $200,000. It is

unclear how much private support there is for preserving the house

but safe to assume the city will not be spending any of its money on

the decrepit house.

COSTA MESA’S 50TH BIRTHDAY

A $50,000 expenditure to plan the “CostaMazing Celebration” will

come before council members tonight. The yearlong celebration would

mark the city’s 50th anniversary of incorporation with three major

events: An anniversary party to take place in July 2003, a Fairview

Fun Run to take place in January 2004 and a “Dining Through the

Decades: 50 Years of Costa Mesa Cuisine” event in June 2004. To make

all this happen, council members will have to approve spending

$50,000 to put on the event. They could also create a committee to

begin planning the event. Costa Mesa was incorporated on June 29,

1953. The city has designated its anniversary year as June 29, 2003,

until June 28, 2004.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Staff has recommended that the council approve the action. If it

does, the anniversary events will eventually bring in about $54,500

in fees, admissions, etc. The total cost to put on the event will be

about $89,481. The city’s out-of-pocket costs, then, would be

$34,981, which is well under the $50,000 set aside for CostaMazing.