Orange County Picked for U.S. Fitness Center

The first United States Fitness Academy, a national training headquarters and research center for coaches and physical education instructors, will be built on a 175-acre site in the Aliso Viejo area of Orange County.

Former pro football coach George Allen, chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, announced the selection during a press conference Wednesday at the Century Plaza.

Allen, who also is honorary chairman of the National Fitness Foundation, which is sponsoring the nonprofit academy, said the $35-million structure would be “financed entirely by (donations from) the private sector.”

The site--an unincorporated area of southern Orange County between Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach--was selected over locations in Texas and Indiana, as well as one near Pepperdine University in Malibu.

Allen said that President Reagan would be asked to dedicate the academy if it is completed during his Administration. Preliminary sketches of the facility will be unveiled April 15 at a New York City banquet honoring First Lady Nancy Reagan, Allen said.

“This is even more important than football,” said Allen, who has been working on the project for the last five years. “It’s something that’s needed in this country.”

The complex is to include both a research wing and a “leadership institute” for training instructors, Allen said.

Effect on Olympics

Dr. Ernest Vandeweghe, a trustee of the foundation, said that the academy would create interest in the Olympics “at the grass-roots level.”

“Will it have a direct effect?” he asked. “I say ‘yes,’ in the long run.”

Bob Mathias, a former Olympian and executive director of the foundation, called the Aliso Viejo area “the most beautiful site in the whole United States.”

Allen said that the primary concerns of the selection committee were the year-round comfortable climate, proximity to water and proximity to a large city.

Thomas P. Riley, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, said “It is not (the county’s) intention to ask for money” for the land lease, and that the county was “exploring the possibility” of using $10 million in bond mortgage money to underwrite the project.

Riley said that supporters of the project in Orange County were confident that the Aliso Viejo site would be chosen.

“We were sure that wherever you might search you’d come back to this one,” he said of the selection committee.