A Beautiful Park for Kids and Bunnies . . . or the Evil Airport?

We all have gaps in our knowledge. One of mine is the region’s air-travel needs for the 21st century. Try as I might, I just can’t seem to nail them down.

Naturally, I’m wondering if it’s just me. Am I surrounded by aviation experts and just don’t know it?

Let’s hope so, because sometime next year, Orange County residents likely will vote again on whether they want an international airport at the former El Toro Marine base.

Over the years, I’ve deluded myself into thinking such things should be decided by professional urban planners with the long-term public good as their guide.

What a dunce. Next year’s plebiscite would be No. 4 on the airport issue since 1994. Apparently, it’s time to hit the books.

Helping educate me are South County folks. They’ve become experts on regional air travel ever since they learned an airport might go up in their backyards. The blitz is on.

In recent months, they’ve mailed fliers to my home with their vision for the abandoned base: a “Great Park” surrounded by museums, a library, university campus, a botanical garden and recreational facilities. Oh, and a 1,000-acre nature preserve.

The subliminal message seems to be: Which would you rather have, a beautiful, sprawling, tree-lined park in which to laugh your life away or a concrete-and-steel airport with jets taking off constantly?

I’m surprised they didn’t ask whether I’d rather win the lottery or spend the day with an IRS auditor. Whether I’d rather have a cocker spaniel or a cobra for a pet.

I’ve gotten four mailers so far.

One is titled, “Take a Walk in the Park.” Start leafing through it and you’ll feel as though Shangri-La is just down the I-5.

As envisioned, the central feature of the park would be a 100-acre lake with a “dramatic fountain.” The artist’s rendering of the lake features a canoe and a small sailboat on the water.

Think Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan on a summer’s day. The park also would include an open-air band shell and a lush botanical garden with a “Crystal Palace” greenhouse.

Another flier invokes the word “Imagine.”

This will no doubt send chills up the backs of baby boomers, who remember it as the evocative title of John Lennon’s anthem of a world without strife.

“Imagine no El Toro,

I wonder if you can;

No takeoffs or landings,

Just the Great Park Plan.”

The Irvine officials behind the Great Park see it as rivaling Central Park in New York, Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and Balboa Park in San Diego.

Sure, I say while browsing the mailers, but what about air-travel needs in the 21st century?

That’s when another mailer comes in. That one, from a group of South County cities opposed to the airport, tells me that John Wayne can handle the area’s travel needs for the foreseeable future.

Well, the airport is operating under capacity and I have no problem getting in and out at Christmastime, so maybe they’re right.

By now, I’m scratching my head like crazy because this park idea sounds pretty great. Whether it would ever be built is a totally different question.

I prefer to silently applaud the anti-airport crowd for dreaming it up and trotting it out as an alternative.

But in my ignorance, how do I decide?

When does the counterattack from the pro-airport crowd begin?

I know it’s coming, because the pro-airport majority on the Board of Supervisors just voted to spend $5 million on an “information” campaign in the next year.

That sounds like lots of fliers.

But I’m ready for them. If I’ve got to help decide this thing, I need to get smart quick.

The pressure is on.

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com.