IRVINE – The Great Park’s orange, helium-filled orb may seem invincible as it hangs over the park, but the cost of keeping up the feature – which requires replacement every six years – has spurred park directors to consider sidelining the attraction to save money.
The tethered ball, donated by developer Lennar Corp., is the most recognizable feature at the former El Toro Marine Corps base, which Irvine is redeveloping into a massive public park.
Launched in 2007, the bright-orange balloon offers up to 30 passengers at a time 360-degree views from its 1,810-pound gondola, weather permitting.
Rides are offered four days a week.
Initially offered at no cost, the park began charging per ride in April 2013, $10 per adult and $5 per teen. (Children younger than 13, with an accompanying adult, ride free.)
In 2013, more than 40,000 visitors went up in the balloon, which flies as high as 400 feet, tethered to the ground by a steel cable. But the following year, attendance shrank by about a third.
Balloon patrons are expected to boost the park’s budget by $140,000 during the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.
However, during that same year, operating the balloon is estimated to cost $655,373, or more than four times the anticipated revenue. Running the area around the balloon is expected to cost another $65,000.
Those expenses are still less than what the balloon’s replacement will cost. To replace the part of the balloon known as its envelope – or, in layman’s terms, the orange part – will cost roughly $750,000, according to French company Aerophile, which makes the balloons.
The envelope has to be replaced every six years. The current iteration was inflated in 2010.
On Tuesday, the Great Park directors decided to fold a discussion about the balloon’s future use into a June review of its proposed 2015-16 budget.
Chairwoman Christina Shea, who initiated the discussion, suggested the board consider turning the balloon into a passenger-less icon to cut costs.
The board’s discussion should entail talk about the fees the city charges to ride the balloon, Councilwoman Lynn Schott said.
About 100,000 people per year go up in another Aerophile product, the balloon at Walt Disney World in Orlando, said Eric Tolles, assistant city manager for the Great Park.
While that balloon is open more days per week than Irvine’s, it also charges more for shorter flights.
As more areas of the park open, ridership may rise.
The first phase of the Great Park’s future sports park, part of the 688 acres being built by FivePoint Communities, is due by the end of 2016.
However, a FivePoint representative in April said the project was ahead of schedule.
Contact the writer: 714-796-2221 or sdecrescenzo@ocregister.com
