Cove plan to be announced

Paul Clinton

The future has arrived.

Leaders with the state’s Department of Parks and Recreation plan

to unveil, at a noon press conference today, the details of how they

will restore and reopen 46 cottages at Crystal Cove State Park to the

public.

The plan would be the state’s third major concept for the

beachfront shanties, which are valued by locals as a historic slice

of 1930s life since the state bought the stretch of beach from the

Irvine Co. in 1979.

“I think this will be the answer,” Parks spokesman Roy Stearns

said. “There are some refinements and fine-tuning we’ll do with the

public.”

State officials would not disclose any details of the plan prior

to the public unveiling.

This latest proposal stems from a series of “stakeholder” and

other public meetings held earlier this year and during much of 2001.

Environmental leaders and other public groups bidding to shape how

the cottages are used offered their opinions to state planners.

The state shifted direction after several hundred restless locals

jammed a Corona del Mar auditorium in January 2001 to protest the earlier plan, which called for an upscale resort in the district.

Parks leaders quickly backed off that plan and bought out a private

concessionaire’s 1997 contract for $2 million.

In July 2001, cottage dwellers were evicted by the state after 30

years. State parks workers shuttered the cottages, spending $1

million on interim protective measures.

More than $13 million has already been set aside for the

restoration of the cottages, which were added to the National

Register of Historic Places in 1979. State officials have said the

restoration plan could cost between $12 million and $20 million.