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IRVINE — A pair of developers unveiled plans Tuesday to build a new amusement park in Irvine that will feature three miniature golf courses, two go-cart raceways, a large arcade and a lake

full of bumper boats. To be called Palace Park, the seven-acre facility is scheduled to open next spring at the corner of Michelson Drive and Harvard Avenue, just off the San Diego Freeway.

Partners in the joint venture are Camelot Park, a San Francisco-based family entertainment company that has built four similar amusement parks in California, and Irvine Recreation Park, a

private Irvine company that has operated a 40-lane bowling alley on the Irvine property for 14 years. Irvine Recreation Park is leasing its land to Palace Park, which will operate as a

separate company. “We haven’t seen anything that makes as much sense for our property as this project,” said Neal Swerdlow, chief financial officer with Irvine Recreation Park. “We really

wanted something that would benefit the whole family. It’s a one-stop shop for family entertainment.” Paul Brady, Irvine city manager, said that plans for the park have been filed with the

city, and that if they are followed the developers do not need approval from the Planning Commission or City Council because the land is already zoned for commercial recreation. “We at the

city are very supportive of the project. It’s well-situated for our community,” said Dee Manning, director of Irvine’s Community Services Department. “It’s not like Disneyland. It’s a

scaled-down version of a recreational park.” The family-oriented park will include a 12-station batting cage, three 18-hole miniature golf courses, two raceways that will run up to 65 racing

cars at a time and a 25,000-square-foot arcade building. The arcade, designed to look like a castle, will house food and dining facilities as well as video and interactive games. Despite a

similar theme and the name of its San Francisco backer, Palace Park is not related to Camelot Golfland, an Anaheim miniature golf and arcade facility with a castle-shaped main building. When

completed, the Irvine park is expected to employ 60 people, most of them teen-agers. Geoffrey Beaumont, a general partner in Camelot Park, said Palace Park will be more upscale than other

parks developed by the company. He estimated the cost of the project at $4 million to $5 million, not including the costs of the land. “It is our largest park and will have the largest

arcade in Orange County. It’s low-cost entertainment, with the average person spending about $9, so it will be very popular,” Beaumont said. He added that the park will be security-oriented

and will provide supervised entertainment for teen-agers. Plans to build an amusement park in the mid-1980s on the site raised questions from surrounding landowners, City Manager Brady said.

David Hahn, director of development at Pacific Park, said he would contact neighboring landowners to make sure they were kept informed about the project, which would take only 83 days to

complete once ground is broken. He said he was not worried about the recession impacting park attendance. “We find that even when people are cutting back they still need a place to take

families,” Hahn said. “We’re an economic alternative.” MORE TO READ