NEWPORT BEACH – With a "salute to the past and a nod to the future," officials at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum have settled on designs for their new home at the Balboa Fun Zone, a remodel they say offers a classic feel while helping revitalize the peninsula.
Largely similar to plans first detailed in May, the drawings unveiled this week depict glass-fronted pavilions supplanting the Fun Zone's white and aquamarine facade and brick wainscoting.
A tower up to three stories tall will rise from the center of the museum, allowing 360-degree bay and ocean views.
The amusement park carousel will be removed for an outdoor activities center and relocated, possibly in Balboa.
Finally, officials hope to dock a 122-foot-long tall ship on a new public pier and build boat slips for visitors.
"They're absolutely fabulous. I can't say enough good about them," Councilman Tod Ridgeway, who represents the peninsula, said of the museum's plans.
"I never expected the results would be this exciting," added Gay Wassall-Kelly, a Balboa historian.
Museum chief David Muller said combining "classic maritime architecture" and contemporary materials will uphold Balboa's charm while contributing to revitalization efforts into which city officials have poured millions of dollars.
Many permits are still required. "You go a long way between concept and completion," Muller said.
The museum bought the Fun Zone last year for $14 million, and remodeling will cost $6 million more.
A preview center opening Aug. 31 is being built in the Fun Zone's old mini-golf room.
The bumper car, teacup and haunted house rides, which are up for sale, close Sept. 30. The museum hopes to be moved out of its riverboat off East Coast Highway and into the Fun Zone by mid-December.
Construction will occur in phases and should take about five years, depending on the progress of a fund-raising campaign now underway. "It's very much an incremental plan, very much a pay-as-you-go plan," said Terry Bibbens, museum board president.
Various tenants, including a pizzeria, sushi bar and corndog stand, will leave in coming years as leases expire.
Only the Ferris wheel, with a lease through 2030, will remain in the primary Fun Zone area. Nearby shops and an adjacent arcade are not affected.
The museum caters to 14,000 visitors a year, half of them schoolchildren. Foot traffic on the Fun Zone promenade is estimated from 500,000 to 1 million annually, and museum officials hope to tap that flow.
"We don't need to draw any more people (to the promenade) – we need to draw them into the museum," Muller said. "Like any business, we need to earn our customers."
Sailing and sport-fishing simulators, a starfish-laden touch tank and a replica mast for children to climb are among the museum's existing and potential offerings.
"Our job," Muller said, in an adage popular among museum officials, "is to keep the fun at the Fun Zone."
1936: Fun Zone is founded and built on the site of an old boat yard.
1986: Fun Zone reopens after a $7 million renovation. Nautical museum opens in a Balboa Boulevard community center.
1994: Joe Tunstall and friend Bob Speth, who own the Fun Zone rides, buy the land for $4.6 million.
1995: The nautical museum moves to its current East Coast Highway riverboat location.
January 2005: The nautical museum reveals it is looking at possible sites for relocation because its lease with the Irvine Co. is set to expire in 2006.
December 2005: The museum buys the Fun Zone for $14 million.
Sources: Balboa Fun Zone, The Orange County Register Compiled by Colleen Robledo, The Register