El Toro Might Be Closed, but It’s Still Busy

You have to look hard, but there are signs of life at the closed El Toro Marine base.

Amid all the dilapidated buildings, gopher-infested lawns and deserted streets there’s the buzz of model airplanes, the screeching of car tires, the ping of a club smacking a golf ball and the clomping of horse hooves.

Since the base officially closed June 2, 1999, much of it has become a ghost town. Once the sun goes down, coyotes, gophers and squirrels take over the quiet, pitch-black streets.

“It’s creepy around here at night,” said Mark Morgan, real estate team manager for the El Toro Local Redevelopment Authority.

But when the sun comes up, the old base jumps to life. On Thursday, Road & Track magazine used an old runway to test vehicles. On another runway, model jets took off and landed on a newly paved surface. At the maintenance yard once used for jets and helicopters, Volvo road-tested its new line of cars and SUVs. Nearly every day, the newly renovated Officers Club is used for business training seminars, weddings or receptions.

So much activity, and yet so much uncertainty.

The fate of the 4,700-acre base, with half a century of Marine Corps memories within its fences, has been debated for years. There have been three countywide elections, numerous lawsuits and millions spent on political campaigns, urging that the land be put to use as either an international airport or a sprawling urban park. And still nothing is settled.

Until recently, the only tenants at the base have been operators of the golf course, stables, recreational vehicle storage lots, a pair of child care centers, and strawberry and bean fields.

But that’s changing. Since the beginning of the year, business has steadily picked up. In February, the county began issuing special-event permits for car shows, consumer test driving, television commercials and movie filming.

The $300-an-acre daily rate for special events is fairly high, but that didn’t deter Road & Track from using a runway to test the zero-to-60 mph speeds of vehicles.

“We just needed a big open space,” road test editor Patrick Hong said. “Our headquarters are in Newport Beach, so this is closer than [the] Fontana or Pomona speedways. Plus, it’s nice and wide, so there’s nothing to hit. And the surface is flat.”

In May, model aircraft clubs began leasing runway space. Two months later, the Officers Club reopened after $100,000 in improvements.

A few days ago, Cal State Fullerton signed a 10-year lease to open a satellite campus in a 46,000-square-foot Spanish-style building that once housed the Air Wing headquarters. Over the next 10 months, university officials plan to spend at least $1.4 million to renovate the structure, built in 1986.

Morgan said he is talking with Irvine Auto Center about turning nine acres of farmland into a parking lot next to the auto mall. He also is working with the county Probation Department to turn three old buildings into a youth and family resource center where children and their parents would be counseled.

Morgan said he also has heard from a dairy interested in warehouse space, a moving company, two green-waste recycling firms and a mortuary. The mortuary owners said they would like to move into the closed base church, which is only 13 years old and in better condition than most of the abandoned buildings. An old gym at the base might be put to use as an emergency homeless shelter this winter.

Some remnants of the base probably will be left vacant. The one-time theater needs $2 million in repairs. And the 1940s-era base housing--now a forlorn neighborhood of 1,400 vacant homes--is probably done for. The houses in the once-teeming community with ball fields and streets filled with children are now falling apart.

Over the last few months, the Navy declared nearly 50 nonresidential buildings fit for use. Next month, the county will begin a public bidding process for the 40 buildings it has deemed worth restoring.

It doesn’t appear as though the county will have any problems filling the space. Morgan said he has received inquiries from more than 400 businesses. “It’s all been word of mouth,” he said. “We haven’t done a bit of advertising.”

But that is about to change. Morgan said the county soon will embark on a relatively low-key newspaper and Internet marketing campaign to get paying customers.

Despite the flurry of activity, El Toro has been a financial drain for the county, which projects the base will cost $14 million to operate this year. At best, revenue is expected to add up to $7.1 million. The refurbished golf course should gross $3.1 million, nearly half the total. And the RV storage facility, expanded to accommodate 2,000 vehicles, and the agricultural leases will generate about $1.2 million each.

“We only have until August of 2005 to break even,” Morgan said, referring to the end of the county’s lease with the Navy. “So we have to get going.”