Nonprofit offers sole management bid

Officials with the California Department of Recreation will consider

a proposal that would allow the Crystal Cove Alliance to manage

cottages in the Crystal Cove Historic District.

“Today is a big day for our organization,” Crystal Cove Alliance

founder Laura Davick said.

Wednesday was the last day for businesses and nonprofits to submit

bids to the parks department to operate 13 cottages along with

restaurants and visitor services at Crystal Cove. State parks

spokesman Roy Stearns said the Corona del Mar-based Crystal Cove

Alliance is the only organization whose proposal will be considered.

The only other bid was from a Rutherford-based organization called

Recreation Del Sol Enterprises LLC, Stearns said. However, the

Northern California group’s submission came in after the 2 p.m.

deadline.

“At some point you have to draw a line in the sand,” Stearns said.

Though the Crystal Cove Alliance is the sole bidder, the group is

not guaranteed a deal. Stearns said parks department officials have

yet to determine whether the alliance’s plan is in accordance with

the department’s requirements for the Historic District. The

department wants to select an organization to manage the cottages by

January, when the first phase of cottage restoration is expected to

be complete.

The Crystal Cove Alliance is working with the parks department to

raise money for educational facilities at Crystal Cove. The alliance

raised $140,000 for the Historic District at a late-September gala.

“Our organization has been intimately involved in the preservation

of the cottages for the last six years,” Davick said.

If the group ends up managing the Historic District, Davick

expects the organization will continue to raise funds while it

manages park amenities, which would include the Crystal Cove Shake

Shack.

If the first phase of cottage restorations are completed by

January, much work remains before the Historic District will be fully

restored.

“We still have 24 cottages to restore, and we still have to raise

$15 million for that restoration,” Davick said.

If that $15 million became immediately available, restorations on

those 24 cottages would take a minimum of three years to complete.

QUESTION

Should the state recreation department select the Crystal Cove

Alliance to manage the cottages at Crystal Cove? Call our Readers

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* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at

[email protected].