Business Takes Off at El Toro but It’s Still Creepy at Night

You have to look hard, but there are signs of life at the closed El Toro Marine base.

Amid all the dilapidated buildings, gopher-infested lawns and deserted streets, there’s the buzz of model airplanes, the screeching of car tires, the ping of a club smacking a golf ball and the clomping of horses’ hooves.

Since the base officially closed June 2, 1999, much of it has become a ghost town. When the sun goes down, coyotes, gophers and squirrels take over the quiet, pitch-black streets.

“It’s creepy around here at night,” said Mark Morgan, real estate team manager for the El Toro Local Redevelopment Authority.

But when the sun comes up, the former base springs to life. On Thursday, Road & Track magazine was using the old 16-Left runway to test vehicles. On the north-south runway, model jets were taking off and landing on some new paving. Over at the old maintenance yard once used for jets and helicopters, Volvo was road-testing its new line of cars and SUVs. Nearly every day, the newly renovated Officers Club is used for business training seminars, weddings or receptions.

So much activity, and yet so much uncertainty.

The fate of the 4,700-acre base, a half-century of Marine Corp memory still resting inside its fences, has been debated for years. There have been three countywide elections, many lawsuits and millions spent on political campaigns, either urging that the land be used as an international airport or a sprawling urban park.

Until recently, the only tenants at the base were operators of a golf course, stables, RV storage lots, two child-care centers and strawberry and bean fields.

But that’s changing. Since the beginning of the year, business has steadily picked up. In February, the county began issuing special-event permits for car shows, consumer test driving, television commercials and movie filming.

The $300-an-acre-per-day rate for special events is fairly high, but that didn’t deter Road & Track from using a runway for testing the zero-to-60-mph speeds of vehicles.

“We just needed a big, open space,” road test editor Patrick Hong said. “Our headquarters are in Newport Beach, so this is closer than Fontana or Pomona speedways. Plus, it’s nice and wide, so there’s nothing to hit. And the surface is flat.”

In May, model aircraft clubs began leasing runway space. Two months later, the Officers Club reopened after $100,000 in improvements.

A few days ago, Cal State Fullerton signed a 10-year lease to open a satellite campus in a 46,000-square foot Spanish-style building that once housed the Air Wing Headquarters.

Over the next 10 months, university officials plan to spend at least $1.4 million to renovate the 1986 structure.

Morgan said he is talking with Irvine Auto Center about turning nine acres of farmland into a parking lot next to the auto mall.

He is also working with the county Probation Department to turn three old buildings into a youth and family resource center where children and their parents would be counseled.

Morgan said he has also heard from a dairy interested in warehouse space, a moving company, two green-waste recycling companies and a mortuary.

Mortuary owners said they would like to move into the closed base church, which is only 13 years old and in better condition than most of the abandoned buildings. An old gym at the base might be put to use as an emergency homeless shelter this winter.

Some remnants of the base will probably be left vacant. The onetime theater needs $2 million in repairs.

And the 1940s-era base housing--now a forlorn neighborhood of 1,400 vacant homes--is probably done for. The houses in the once-teeming community, where ball fields and streets once were filled with kids, are now falling apart.

Within the last few months, the Navy declared nearly 50 nonresidential buildings fit for use. Next month, the county will begin a public bidding process for the 40 buildings it has deemed worthy of restoring.

It doesn’t appear as if the county will have any problems filling the space. Morgan said he has received inquiries from more than 400 businesses.

“It’s all been word of mouth,” he said. “We haven’t done a bit of advertising.”

But that is about to change. Morgan said the county will soon embark on a relatively low-key newspaper and Internet marketing campaign to rustle up paying customers.

Despite the activity, the base has been a financial drain for the county.

The county estimates that the base will cost $14 million to operate this year.

At best, revenue is expected to total $7.1 million.

The refurbished golf course should gross $3.1 million. And the RV storage facility, expanded to accommodate 2,000 vehicles, and the agricultural leases will generate roughly $1.2 million each.

“We only have until August of 2005 to break even,” said Morgan, referring to the end of the county’s lease with the Navy. “So we have to get going.”