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Irvine
The original Irvine Ranch, acquired by James Irvine and his partners
in 1864, was composed of acreage included in Spanish and Mexican land
grants dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1894 James Irvine
II incorporated the land and formed the Irvine Company. The 200 square
miles of the original ranch represented a full quarter of Orange County's
land area. Although the Irvine Company has sold off more than half its
holdings for development, it still retains more than 54,000 acres. Today's
community of Irvine, incorporated 25 years ago, is a meticulously plan-ned,
frighteningly homogeneous group of single-family-dwelling developments,
more than 50 apartment communities, and a number of towering glass and
steel business mega-complexes. Surrounding the cookie-cutter communities
are 20,000 acres of open pasture where cattle still roam and 8,000 cultivated
acres producing citrus, avocados, and various other food crops plus flowers,
trees, and shrubs for Southern California commercial nurseries. In an
emphatic nod to ecological concerns, the Irvine Company has apportioned
more than 21,000 acres as a reserve
for endangered species of plants and animals, which will become the center
of a 36,000-acre Orange County Nature Reserve.
The community of Irvine sprang up around the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFOR-NIA'S
IRVINE CAMPUS (uci) (bounded by University Drive to the north. Culver
Drive to the west, Bonita Canyon Drive to the south, and Newport Coast
Drive to the east; 949/824-5011;
www.uci.edu), constructed on land donated by the Irvine Company The focus
at the cool, quiet, and spartan IRVINE MUSEUM (12th floor, 18881 Von Karman
Avenue, near Campus Drive; 949/476-2565; www.irvine- museum.org) is California
impressionism between 1890 and 1930, a regional offshoot of the American
impressionism movement. Though its permanent collection once consisted
almost exclusively of the works of Joan Irvine Smith (now exhibited at
UCI), in recent years the museum has built a wider collection, and in
addition presents a variety of shows i
that change quarterly. Built into a hillside, IRVINE MEADOWS AMPHITHEATER
(8808 Irvine Center Drive; 949/855-8096) is Irvine's answer to the Hollywood
Bowl—sort of. It is possible to picnic there on delicacies from
your own basket, but only before performances of the Pacific Orchestra.
For other large-venue musical events, unimpressive food and drink must
be purchased inside the grounds. Still, with 10,000 reserved seats and
4,500 lawn seats, it's one of Irvine's main draws.
For a change of pace, try Irvine's OLD TOWNE. It was established in 1887
by James Irvine II as the shipping center for produce from the Irvine
Ranch. There are shops and restaurants, and among the historic buildings
you may tour are the blacksmith shop, the old garage, a tenant farm-
house, the general store, and La Quinta Inn (see Lodgings, below). The
IRVINE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (17755 Sky Park E, Suite 101; 949/660-9112,
www.irvinechamber.com; icc@irvinechamber.com) is a useful source of tourist
information.
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