Irvine Explores Building Arena on Air Base Land

The City Council on Tuesday commissioned a study to determine the feasibility of building a professional sports stadium on land the city hopes to receive when the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station closes.

The $63,000 study by Arthur Anderson & Co., an international accounting firm, is expected to take about four months.

Officials said they will carefully consider the results before joining a crowded field of cities, including Los Angeles, that are vying for professional franchises.

Mayor Christina L. Shea recently took a fact-finding trip to Charlotte, N.C., to see the Carolina Panthers’ NFL stadium, and officials have reportedly consulted well-known Newport Beach sports attorney Lee Steinberg about the project.

The proposed stadium site at El Toro would work with or without an international airport, which is proposed for another part of the base, said Peter Hersh, a manager in the community development department.

If necessary, noise from the airport could be muffled by building a dome over the stadium, Hersh suggested.

A city staff report said the site can accommodate an 85,000-seat stadium and complex.

“It’s just a study,” Councilman Mike Ward said. “I want us to tell the truth. I want to know if this will work and what the chances are of this working.”

The study should determine whether there is significant interest in Irvine and Orange County for another professional sports franchise to join the Anaheim Angels and Mighty Ducks.

Although football has long been gone from Southern California, Ward said, “I hope they would look at all sports and see what’s reasonable for the city . . . not just football.”

But Hersh said it is unlikely the city would pursue a hockey or baseball team with the Ducks and Angels so near.

Still, as officials pointed out, teams move.

As Councilman Greg Smith quipped, the Anaheim Angels could “become the Tucson Angels.”