Senator visits Crystal Cove

Lindsay Sandham

After touring Crystal Cove State Park Sunday, State Sen. John

Campbell remains committed to his proposal for the park’s restoration

project.

Campbell’s plan, which was sparked by a recent request from the

State Parks Department for an additional $2 million in funding to

complete phase one of the restoration of the park’s 46 historic

cottages, would take management of the project out of the state’s

hands and put it into the hands of a nonprofit organization.

“I have the confidence that a well-informed nonprofit with

entrepreneurial spirit will get this thing done,” he said. “I do not

have confidence that the current situation will get this done.”

The first phase of the project would have 22 cottages completely

restored for about $12 million. It was originally scheduled to be

finished by March and is now expected to be completed in the fall.

Laura Davick, founder of the Crystal Cove Alliance, said she

invited the senator to tour the park to open up discussion and set

the record straight.

“We were concerned that Sen. Campbell was using this [plan] as a

means to gain support for a lease extension down at El Morro,” she

said. However, after meeting with him in person, Davick said she

hopes Sen. Campbell will keep his promise that that is not his plan.

Residents at the El Morro Village Mobile Home Park, which is also

at Crystal Cove, have been fighting the state’s attempt to evict them

to make way for a public campground.

“I think we have a general agreement at this point in time on what

would be a good solution,” said Crystal Cove Alliance Chairman Dan

Gee after the meeting with Campbell. He said he thinks the time has

come to consider the idea of a nonprofit managing the park.

Davick said the alliance is interested in learning all the

specifics of Campbell’s plan before it would agree to be the

nonprofit that would manage Crystal Cove, and it’s important that the

State Parks Department and other coalitions involved in the project

are involved in discussions regarding Campbell’s proposal. She said

they are setting up a conference call for sometime this week to learn

more about the plan.

Since visiting with Campbell, Davick said she feels the lines of

communication have been opened, and it’s a good start toward

developing creative solutions for how to deal with funding for the

Crystal Cove renovation project.

“It was refreshing to see that Sen. Campbell was willing to come

down on a Sunday, especially on Mother’s day, to do this,” Davick

said.

* LINDSAY SANDHAM may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or

lindsay.sandham@latimes.com.