Costa Mesa receives $3.2M to build Lions Park Café, expand city’s skate park

Two Costa Mesa parks got a shot in the arm Tuesday, when officials accepted $3.2 million from County Supervisor Katrina Foley for a new café on the Lions Park campus and to expand amenities at the city’s skate park.

Foley, who served as the city’s mayor from 2018 to 2020, recently earmarked some of the remaining funds from a $10-million American Rescue Plan Act allocation to complete the shovel-ready projects, which have been on Costa Mesa’s wish list for years.

The Lion’s Park Café would serve food and beverages and offer outdoor dining near the newly rebuilt Donald Dungan Library, Norma Hertzog Community Center and adjacent “Airplane Park” used by families on the city’s west side.

A café at Costa Mesa’s Lions Park, in the works for years, could soon be built with a $1.2 million allocation from County Supervisor Katrina Foley.

(Courtesy of the city of Costa Mesa)

Since the renovations were completed in July 2021, the area has hosted several city events, including the Harbor Lions Fish Fry and the annual Scarecrow Festival. Under a revenue sharing agreement, the county would receive 50% of the café’s net revenues to fund materials and programming for O.C. Public Libraries, according to a staff report.

Meanwhile, $2 million of the supervisor’s allocation will be used to expand and improve the city’s skate park, located near TeWinkle Park, the city’s Bark Park and the Costa Mesa Tennis Center. Plans include creating a designated area for beginners and young skaters, a pump track that offers a closed circular loop with hills and other amenities.

“I’m thrilled to be able to support both of these community benefit projects that have been waiting their turn for many, many years — expanding the skate park and creating a revenue source at the Lions Park café, which will be a place for people to gather and hang out,” Foley said Wednesday.

The supervisor’s allocation is the latest in a series of funding commitments from elected officials the city has gratefully accepted this year.

State Sen. Dave Min announced in July he’d secured $10 million for Costa Mesa in the state’s budget to restore a portion of Fairview Park, install LED lighting at TeWinkle Park and the Jack Hammett Sports Complex and for improvements at Shalimar Park on the city’s west side.

That same month, Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine) earmarked $1.2 million in the budget to expand Ketchum-Libolt Park, a westside pocket park, into an adjacent parkway area to increase its overall footprint.

Mayor John Stephens said in a council meeting Tuesday it helped to have friends and allies at each level of government working on the city’s behalf. Councilman Manuel Chavez thanked Foley for the commitment, saying the café at Lions Park has been a part of the city’s vision for years.

“Thanks to her contribution from the county of Orange we’re going to be able to have that visioning fully realized,” he said Tuesday. “That park has been transformative, and this is one more piece of that transformative process.”

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