O.C. fairgrounds Equestrian Center spared, will shift to more public-facing role
Equestrians who host horseback riding lessons, classes and therapy sessions at the O.C. fairground’s Equestrian Center have until June to continue operating their private businesses, before a new model for delivering more public-facing programs is implemented.
The decision to expand public uses at the 44-year-old facility — bringing it more in line with other public-benefit offerings at the Costa Mesa complex — was made Thursday by board members at the end of an hours-long meeting over the fate of the center.
Directors of the Orange County Fair & Event Center, which oversees operations of the annual county fair as California’s 32nd District Agricultural Assn., weighed whether to continue allowing mostly private business to take place under an operator’s contract or permanently take the reins of the facility and guide it in a more public direction.
For the past year, OCFEC officials have managed the center and currently estimate it will lose about $960,000 annually if something isn’t done to improve tenancy and bring the physical infrastructure up to speed.
A contractor previously oversaw programs and in 2022 brought in roughly $201,000 to the center, which in turn spent nearly $70,000 on utility costs, maintenance and repairs, according to a spokeswoman for the center.
Officials in November reviewed a request for proposals in an attempt to find a new operator who could take on the Equestrian Center and make needed improvements under a minimum 10-year contract.
But some had concerns about whether doing so constituted a gift of public funds for a privately run enterprise. Thursday’s meeting was an attempt to determine how the center might be transformed into something a bit more like the site’s Centennial Farm or Heroes Hall veterans museum, which operate at a deficit but provide an obvious public benefit.
“You can go to Heroes Hall pretty much any day of the week as a member of the public,” said OCFEC Chair Nick Kovacevich. “You can also go to Centennial Farm and interact with the animals there. But I don’t believe members of the public can go to the Equestrian Center and interact with the horses on their own.
“The reason that we’re here is we’re trying to make the best decision for our fair and fairgrounds but also for the community at large.”
Nearly 70 area residents, horse trainers, boarders and members of the public gave testimony on how the programs currently offered at the site, albeit through private means, have helped countless people recover from injury and illness or discover a new passion and purpose in life.
Cora Cordova coaches with O.C. Vaulting, a group that offers equine yoga, acrobatics and horsemanship classes at the center. A former student, the practice helped her get through a divorce. Today, she brings seniors from her day job as an enrichment director to the center’s annual Halloween Parade and is stunned by their reaction to being around horses.
“This wasn’t just an entertaining outing for these residents — it was an event that brought meaning to their lives at a point where they questioned whether their lives were worth living,” she said.
A contingent of minors, from elementary school students to high schoolers, took to the podium to explain how their initial visits to the property, over time, turned into an almost daily ritual of riding, caring for and learning about the majestic animals.
Gibran Stout, a Back Bay resident who founded O.C. Vaulting and operates from the fairgrounds, said most of the people who work or board horses at the center are happy to share their love with visitors of any age, whether it’s in the form of a lesson, a class or outing.
“We do free tours — we want people to come and learn,” she said in an interview ahead of Thursday’s meeting. “It’s open to the public. All you have to do is drive up to the gate.”
Many among the group are fearful the Equestrian Center is being eyed for closure, after state officials attempted to auction off the 150-acre fairgrounds to the highest bidder in 2009 and were met with a wall of opposition.
In 2018, a master site plan for the property included a proposal to demolish the center’s barns and offices and replace them with carnival parking and storage, restrooms, showers and “multipurpose ground space.” Equestrians rallied, and the plan was put on ice.
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley — who extended an invitation for fairground operators to work with the county to see where partnerships and funding opportunities might be forged — recalled rallying to save the fairgrounds in 2009, saying it was important to preserve the county’s equestrian community.
“I, too, am concerned about the direction this is going,” she said.
Citing an annual deficit of $227,805 or more, OC Fair & Event Center officials are hoping someone will take the reins of the aging facility and make needed improvements.
Kovacevich on Thursday assured the public there were no plans to demolish the center or to replace it with a parking lot, a rumor that had been galloping around in the days before the meeting. He even interrupted speakers who brought it up.
“Let’s stop throwing out parking lots and closures that have never been discussed,” he said during one comment. “It’s just false, and we’re not going to have that in the public comment.”
After receiving more than four hours of testimony from speakers, OCFEC directors discussed whether to continue the process to find a new operator or chart a new course.
Director Doug La Belle said that while other vendors who sell goods or services on the state-run facility do so through a bidding process, equestrians were the only ones who — because of the previous management agreement — were operating without approval and consideration from the board.
“To get to the bottom line and determine whether we have a profit-making center, the only way to do that is to solicit proposals from trainers,” he said. “Give us some numbers. Let us, as a board, evaluate what it is that you are doing that provides a public benefit.”
Other directors listed things they’d like to see happen at the Equestrian Center, from after-school programs for kids to veteran therapy programs to a mounted public safety unit.
“I’m not in favor of closing the Equestrian Center. What I am in favor of is giving more public access to that facility,” said Director Barbara Bagneris. “I want to see it stick around, but not in the model we’re using.”
The board ultimately voted to put the request for proposal for a new operator on hold and to convene a series of public meetings between fairgrounds staff, residents and Equestrian Center stakeholders to jointly and openly develop a public-programming model of operation.
As such, trainers and those with businesses based at the center will be transitioned to whatever new model is approved by the site’s leadership sometime in June.
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