ORANGE : Festivities Mark Park’s Renovation

Listen to the ancient oaks at Irvine Regional Park on a quiet afternoon and they will whisper tales of grizzly bears and rancheros, of movie stars Cary Grant and Lassie, and of picnics 100 years ago during the pioneer days of Orange County.

This weekend, the lush groves that shaded the family outings of benefactor James Irvine Jr. and more than 30 million other visitors will be the site of a festival to celebrate the park’s 93rd birthday and the completion of a $5-million renovation project launched in 1982.

The dedication of the park’s Interpretive Center at 11 a.m. today will begin two days of festivities that include carnival and pony rides and a circus with animal performers.

The Interpretive Center, a museum with exhibits documenting the region’s cultural history and native plant and animal life, is the latest improvement to the 477-acre park. The structure, formerly the County Products Building, was built in 1930 but has been closed to the public for almost 50 years.

Supervising Ranger Mark Carlson shows off the center, an octagonal building of river stone and rough-hewn beams, with the pride of a new father.

“I came here to the park as a kid--in fact I came here before I was born because my mother came when she was pregnant,” he said. “I guess I got this place in my blood from way back.” On a recent tour, Carlson described some of the rich lore that led the park, California’s oldest regional park, to be added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The 160 acres that Irvine donated in 1897 was once roamed by Juaneno Indians. It later became the Yorba family’s Rancho Lomas de Santiago. Pioneer William Wolfskill bought the land in 1860, and in 1876 James Irvine purchased it, bringing the acreage of Irvine Ranch to 95,000 acres.

The park’s tiny zoo opened in the 1920s with the donation of a “tired bear and a lazy alligator,” Carlson said. Today, it is home for dozens of animals from timber wolves to pelicans injured in the Huntington Beach oil spill.

The park’s rustic wilderness provided a set for Hollywood filmmakers in the 1930s and 1940s. During World War II, the land was closed and became an encampment for military reserves.

The equestrian trail on the south ridge affords a lofty view of the park’s perimeters, from Villa Park Dam to Irvine Lake. Cattle still graze on the gentle slope north of the park. But to the east is a canyon that will be transformed by construction of the Eastern Transportation Corridor. To the southeast are 7,110 acres planned for Irvine Co. development.