DANA POINT : Dedication Held for Long-Awaited Park

Sea Terrace Community Park, a long-promised 27-acre public park along Coast Highway, was finally dedicated Monday, although its opening is still six weeks off.

A small celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on the dirt parcel that will be the first four acres of the park, which will be constructed at the intersection of Niguel Road in the Monarch Beach section of town.

“It has been a struggle, but the people of Dana Point will benefit from the work,” said Ed Conway, chairman of the Capistrano Bay Park and Recreation District, which oversees parks in Dana Point. “This will be a big boost for the Monarch Beach community. What in the past has been a very visible eyesore is now being turned into the most beautiful park in the city.”

When finished, the park will include an outdoor amphitheater, vista points for ocean viewing, a trail system that hooks into other city trails, a par course, tot lot and picnic areas. A tunnel underneath Coast Highway to link the park to a parking area is already in place.

The parkland was first committed to the public by the county in 1981 as part of a development agreement for the right to build what is now Monarch Beach Resort. The 225-acre resort, which straddles the park, has already been approved by the city and awaits review by the California Coastal Commission.

The resort owner, Nippon-Shinpan Co. Ltd. of Japan, is obligated not only to build the park but to landscape and maintain it. The agreement is worth $5.4 million, said Lynn Muir, a Dana Point architect and park district board member.

“We really cut a great deal for the city,” Muir said. “It took us 11 years to get this far, but the district finally worked out an agreement so the whole park has to be completed. We will pay to irrigate and maintain the park turf only.”

Additional property dedication and park installation is to be started with the construction of the resort’s 400-room hotel or in December, 1994, whichever comes first, Muir said.

By Oct. 1, bike racks, landscaping and picnic areas should be done and the park should be open, Muir said.