The City Council intends for Irvine to have one more library.
Councilmembers recently affirmed the city will incorporate a central library into the sprawling Great Park development first approved in 2022.
Although those blueprints reserved a site for the city to create a main library branch in the first phase of the 1,300-acre park’s development, funds for its construction were not allocated.
Plans have the library stationed in the northern section of the park, nestled between what officials envision as a botanical garden and a veteran’s memorial park.
For the city, a Great Park library has long been awaited. Consultants previously pitched design ideas to the City Council back in 2017, but those discussions gained little ground.
The Irvine Public Library system currently spans three branches: Heritage Park, University Park and Katie Wheeler, the last of which will open in early 2026 after a facility transition.
The Great Park library will join the city’s now independent library system, which Irvine leaders recently assumed operation of from the umbrella of the Orange County Public Library system. That means ownership and funding will fall to Irvine.
The $1 billion Great Park development is financed by a mix of city bonds, redevelopment-related funds and a community facilities district tax levied on residents near the Great Park in the Altair, Cadence Park and Novel Park neighborhoods.
But according to city officials, “due to phased capital funding, project cost increases, and rising borrowing costs,” plus new requested amenities not originally funded by the framework plan, such as a dog park and aquatics center, the city falls short of funding for the library.
Design and construction of the library will be contingent on further financing, which is up in the air. But some proposed options by city staff include selling parkland, exploring private and public partnerships and increasing the city’s tax on hotel stays.
Before councilmembers approved the library’s incorporation into the Great Park plan, there was some discussion about what that facility would entail.
Councilmember Mike Carroll suggested the city find a way to weave into the library’s design a historic air traffic control tower Irvine recently acquired from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The air traffic control tower, commissioned in 1943 and operationally closed in 1999, was part of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, which is now the site of the Great Park.
“In terms of the library, it would be great to fold that into the memorandum,” said Carroll, who also chairs the Great Park board.