Fish fry may be off menu at park

Costa Mesa’s Lions Park, the longtime site of the annual Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club fish fry, could be closed to carnivals in the future because they damage the baseball field.

City Council members today will talk about whether to continue allowing carnivals such as the fish fry, which includes rides and games, at the park in the future. Davis Field, one of only a few lighted baseball fields in the city, has to be shut down for several weeks because of the event.

“It’s an issue that we need to get resolved prior to the next Lions fish fry so we can address any similar requests,” said City Finance Director Marc Puckett, who wrote a report for the council on the issue.

Lions Park was named for the Lions Club, and the fish fry has been held at that spot since the late 1950s. The popular community event, which raises money for charities, moved to Orange Coast College in 1999 when the city began building a community center next to the park.

It was halted in 2001 and 2002 as the club settled a lawsuit with a woman who claimed she twisted an ankle at the school during the event, but the fish fry came back in 2003 at Lions Park. Because the community center now stands where the carnival rides used to go, they had to be put on the ball field.

That takes the field out of commission for about two weeks before the event, and it can cost the city up to $5,000 to make it playable again, according to Puckett’s report.

This year’s fish fry is scheduled for June 2 and 3. Lions Club secretary Mike Scheafer said he was initially worried about the council’s discussion today, but “I think they all recognize the historical significance of the fish fry and what it does for the community.”

Puckett suggested the council could set a new policy limiting carnivals at city facilities, and the fish fry could be grandfathered in.

The City Council meets today at 4:30 p.m. in conference room 1A at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa.