Progress at the Great Park in Irvine, largest city park development in U.S.
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Despite a light drizzle Tuesday, many Irvine community members spent the afternoon at the Great Park for the 2025 “State of the Great Park” event.
The City of Irvine and the Great Park Board invited neighbors for a first look at the progress being made at the Great Park through immersive partner exhibits and a presentation from Great Park leadership.
“You are the reason that Irvine leads the nation in building a city and community that we can all be proud of,” said Great Park Board chairman and Irvine City Councilmember, Mike Carroll, in an address to the crowd. “Twenty years ago, this place was on track to be a massive international airport and 20 years ago community leaders fought back to preserve this place as a park for all of us to enjoy.”
The lawn of Great Park Live resembled a carnival — a rainy one — with games, mini golf, bounce houses and food from Chick-fil-A, Wetzel’s Pretzels and more. The program began with a performance by the Pacific Symphony, which makes the temporary live music venue its summer home, followed by remarks from Irvine Mayor and Great Park Board director Larry Agran and Great Park Board vice chairman and Irvine City Councilmember William Go.
The ambitious public park in Irvine has been in various stages of development since Orange County voters passed Measure W, authorizing the former air station’s use as a park, nature preserve and multi-use development in 2002. The park rivals New York’s Central Park in size at nearly 1,347 acres and with a budget of over $1.2 billion, it is currently the largest municipal park under development in the United States.
Detailed plans for several attractions coming to the park were revealed Tuesday at the event.
The “Heart of the Park” will feature a grand promenade with tree-top walks, a rotunda and a picnic garden. Museum pads will soon be ready for construction, building what will become “Cultural Terrace” where guests will find Pretend City, Orange County Music and Dance and the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum. A trail system with new bridges and shade structures that will connect the different areas of the park called Bosque is also planned.
The Great Park’s retired military base past will be honored with Veterans Memorial Park and Garden, which will include the Great Park Central Library in addition to a botanical garden. The El Toro air traffic control tower will live on as an interactive museum, where residents can experience what it’s like in a real air traffic control tower.
Carroll also detailed the aerial transport system planned for the park known as “Whoosh.”
“We believe aerial transportation will ease traffic and provide accessibility for people of all ages and all mobility levels,” said Carroll. “So everybody can enjoy the Great Park from end to end.”
The fully electric-powered, autonomous “Whoosh” system will have elevated vehicles that travel on a fixed cableway and can accommodate up to 10,000 passengers per hour. A simulation of “Whoosh” set up in the park for the event allowed families to imagine what it might look like riding the aerial transport system over the Great Park in the future.
“The Great Park is a living reflection of Irvine’s past and a bold investment in its future,” said Irvine Mayor Larry Agran. “With every new addition, we’re honoring our history, engaging our community and building something truly extraordinary.”
The “State of the Great Park” event follows the groundbreaking of The Canopy at Great Park, a dining and retail center by local development company Almquist that will also welcome the first SoCal T&T Supermarket.
Carroll said the ongoing development of the Great Park continues the vision started back in 2002.
“We’re not just building a park, we’re building a legacy,” said Carroll.
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