Monday, May 19, 2008

Great Park Ballon

Photoessayist Went over to the still under construction Orange County Great Park to ride the ballon. It's tethered to a 400' cable it but still allows for great views of the park and surrounding area.

The park is on what once was a USMC air station, El Toro. The park has been years in planning and it doesn't look it. It's a dump. They've let all the existing structures go to hell and haven't really done anything other than a storage lot for RVs. The base housing east of the station has been replaced with new housing but that doesn't do anything for the park either.

The ballon ride was officially closed due to construction surrounding the ride. They were giving rides to invited guests only, mostly employees of the city of Irvine. For me that meant no ride but the ride officals let me go up anyway. Big thanks to them.

The construction that caused the closure of the ride was for the 27.5-acre Preview Park. The park has been under construction for years and all they've got to show for it is a preview park that's also still under construction.

Check here for more photos I took of the ballon: http://www.lagunabeat.com/2008/05/up-up-and-away-almost.html