Irvine May Get Double Dose of Fun

How much fun can one city have?

Enough for two family fun centers, according to William Scott Enterprises, an Irvine developer and golf course manager.

The company said Monday it is in escrow to buy eight acres from the Irvine Co. for an upscale $8.5-million family fun park off the San Diego Freeway near Lake Forest Drive.

Tentatively called the Irvine Family Fun Center and planned for the Irvine Spectrum, the park is the second family theme park announced for Irvine in two months.

In November, San Francisco developer Camelot Park said it will build Palace Park, a seven-acre amusement center with miniature golf and bumper boats just up the San Diego Freeway from the newly proposed park.

“We live in South Orange County and recognized the need for a park in this area,” said Scott Rickard, a principal with William Scott Enterprises. “There’s the possibility it will be too much, but we think the demographics of this area can support two parks.”

Geoffrey Beaumont, Palace Park’s planned operator, agrees.

“There are already two or three parks in Orange County,” he said. “We view it as a complement.”

Irvine city officials aren’t so sure both can prosper, and developers of the Irvine Family Fun Center still need city Planning Commission approval.

“We’ve told the group that we will work with them and look at it on the merits of their proposal,” said Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. “There may not be room for two of them to survive in such close proximity. But we can’t say we support one or the other.”

Expected to open next summer, the Irvine Family Fun Center’s attractions will include two miniature golf courses landscaped around lagoons and waterfalls, batting cages, bumper boats and race cars. Indoor attractions will include a virtual-reality showroom--with a flight simulator--as well as an imagination maze of tunnels and slides for children.

The parent company also hopes to avoid complaints from residents such as those that recently deluged Camelot Park.

Its Palace Park, with plans for a 25,000-square-foot arcade building resembling a castle, has drawn opposition from residents who fear the park could lure gangs and crime to the area near the proposed site at Michelson Drive and Harvard Avenue. Camelot Park has scheduled a meeting with local residents on Thursday to discuss their concerns.

But similar worries are not expected to be raised about the Irvine Family Fun Center, mainly because it will be built in a more isolated area of the Irvine Spectrum.

“We don’t anticipate any problems with neighbors or traffic,” said Larry Thomas, spokesman for the Irvine Co. “It’s a nice piece of ground with freeway frontage. We just view this as a compatible use for that area, one which will bring many people in.”

Rickard said that Scott Enterprises paid about $4.5 million for the land and will build an arcade that echoes the Spectrum’s architecture.

“This is going to be a very upscale park,” Rickard said. “It will not have the windmill or castle look to the miniature golf.”

Irvine’s Fun Zone Park at a Glance Builder: William Scott Enterprises, Irvine Location: Irvine Spectrum Also in Irvine Spectrum: Wild Rivers, Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre and a planned 18-screen theater complex Park size: Eight acres Estimated cost: $8.5 million Estimated opening: Summer, 1994 To employ: About 70 people Proposed facilities: Two miniature golf courses, batting cages, bumper boats, boating course and race cars, Kids Zone for younger children, imagination maze, indoor pavilion, restaurant, arcade and virtual-reality attractions. Source: William Scott Enterprises; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times