IRVINE, CA – The Wild Rivers Waterpark’s 22-year ride will come to an end after this season.
The Irvine Co. did not renew the attraction’s lease, despite requests by Wild Rivers for an extension.
The company plans to build some 3,700 homes and condos on the land that includes the water park and Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.
Boy, does this ruffle my feathers!
I’m normally OK with track-housing in environmentally sensitive areas. I don’t care if some dumb-ass wants to put down $2 mil on his McMansion in Shady Canyon or whatever contrived name the Irvine Company comes up with to make us forget that they’re building on top of a dry chaparral constantly at risk of mud slides and seasonal wild-fires. Southern-California is over-crowded and over-priced, and it needs more affordable housing, period.
But tearing down Wild Rivers? That’s sacrilege!
Many of you know that I am a BIG fan of pitching movies (ask me about Frat Baby sometime). How about this one: the 2007 version of the cast from The Sand Lot (including the freckly kid, the fatty, the quiet dirty kid, the kid who already hit his growth spurt, the weird twins, the black kid and the effeminate kid) are looking forward to a summer at Wild Rivers. They’ve got it all planned– surreptitiously scoping out chicks, pulling intricate plots to make their tops come off, eating funnel cakes, floating around in the lazy river, keeping clear of the anal-retentive life guard, etc. etc.
But on the last day of school, they learn that Wild Rivers is… CLOSING DOWN! [Duh, duh, duuuuuh]. The big, bad development company wants to put up single-family detached houses across the freeway from the Irvine Spectrum. So, the kids band together to try to deter the main developer– TP-ing his house; putting sugar in his Mercedes’ gas tank; flaming bags of poo on the doorstep– you know the drill.
When they realize that their efforts are ineffectual, they get serious, lead a major petition to get the whole community behind them, and save the water park for generations to come!
That’s what should happen. But you know what will happen instead? 3,700 homes and condos go up over the next few years. And Irvine will become even more dull than it already is. (You didn’t think that was possible, did you?)
The problem at hand leads to a larger discussion/conversation: what are the most important elements of a community?
I’m not all that familiar with her work, but Irvine seems the embodiment of everything Jane Jacobs advises against: gated communities, a reliance on the car, destination shopping, etc. For Christ’s sake…we used to call it “the Bubble,” and my parents called it “Ken and Barbie Land!” Irvine is cookie-cut with high end strip malls, chain stores, man-made lakes, manicured parks, golf courses… literally no places a kid could go and be a kid– you know… get in trouble, go exploring, kick a can down an alley.
There was no can. There was no alley. Hell, there was no LITTER. Irvine is a completely structured environment.
Which is why it pisses me off that you would remove a landmark, an institution like Wild Rivers, to put up- what else? More housing.
Pave paradise, and put up a parking lot. Sheesh.
5 responses so far ↓
Maya // July 27, 2007 at 3:24 pm |
Wait is Irvine Meadows (yeah, I know, Verizon blah blah) really closing too? Tragedy. All a sad tragedy. I remember the days of catching frogs in the big drain pipe at the end of the creek behind my house. I remember watching the skate kids kill bats in the “tunnel” (also the big water pipe) with tennis rackets. I remember walking my dog down the path toward culver and stopping to watch a family of coyotes near a fallen tree. Yep, all in Northwood. And I remember Wild Rivers, in fact, just went a few years ago. Tragedy, all a big tragedy, but I dont plan to raise kids there so whatever. If I was a millionaire I would produce your film. Love me some Sandlot kids. Can the guy from Rookie of the Year be in it too?
Maya // July 27, 2007 at 3:27 pm |
Oh and, not that I support it, but I have read that plans for housing near the Spectrum are actually to create some sort of “downtown” in which a car is unnecessary. So while not an improvement per say, its at least a decent idea. I will miss funnel cakes.
Chris // August 2, 2007 at 12:16 am |
Just what we need!! They plan to build 3,700 new homes!!! Why should our tax dollars go into paying for roads and highways, they should charge the Irvine company for putting that many more people on the street! That company is ridiculous. Just what we need 3700+ asians on the roads in Irvine, wonderful, I need to drive a tank
Jon // August 2, 2007 at 2:41 pm |
Chris is my first random commentator! Thanks for visiting!
matt // July 14, 2008 at 11:27 pm |
wild rivers has been fun to me and it still is im 13 and i say keep it because it is the most funiest water park here and because the economy suks why waist money