ANAHEIM : Consultants Hired to Design Stadium Area

The city on Tuesday took the first step toward transforming the property around Anaheim Stadium and The Pond into a sports and entertainment complex.

The City Council unanimously voted to hire the Spectrum Group, an Irvine-based consulting firm run by former Santa Ana Mayor Daniel H. Young, to supervise the development of a master plan for the 807 acres around the stadium and the indoor arena.

The plan would make recommendations about the location of a new baseball stadium for the California Angels. The city and the baseball team are in the midst of negotiations for the proposed facility.

Mayor Tom Daly called the project “vitally important” and said, “We expect great things from the potential revitalization of the stadium area.”

The Spectrum Group will supervise a group of sub-consultants, including the Jerde Partnership Inc., a Venice-based urban design firm that designed Universal City’s popular City Walk.

The contract with the Spectrum Group is for about $450,000, with its work expected to take eight months.

The plan will include a study of traffic, parking and transportation; a public facilities plan analyzing the infrastructure and identifying needed improvements; market research and an analysis of the financial feasibility of the project, and the preparation of an environmental impact report on the proposals.

The firm will also recommend how to link the city’s sports facilities to each other and to other tourists destinations, such as Disneyland.

The Spectrum Group was selected from eight consultant teams that had submitted proposals to the city.