Park Plans Detail 27,000-Square-Foot Recreation Center

A full-sized basketball and volleyball court and rooms with wood floors for dance and exercise classes are some of the aspects of the latest conceptual plans for the city's future recreation center.

The facility, which plans show will cover 27,000 square feet, will be part of Lake Forest's .

So far, the building plans include a gymnasium with side courts and a full-sized center basketball and volleyball court, activity rooms with wood floors for dance and exercise classes and a computer/homework room attached to a teen lounge.

Also included in the conceptual designs are a small instructional kitchen, storage rooms, classrooms, restrooms and staff offices.

The center will be located near the Vista Terrace entrance to the park, adjacent to a large, multipurpose grass field that bisects the sports park, dubbed the Commons.

Also complete are plans for two restroom/concession buildings: one near the baseball/softball diamonds, and the other by the multi-purpose soccer fields. 

The city's Planning Commission will review the plans Thursday at its first meeting of 2012.

If the members approve of the designs, they can authorize the architect to prepare construction-level plans and specifications for the center and the restroom/concession buildings.

The commission meeting begins at 7 p.m. Thursday in .

The at an October 2011 meeting. The 86-acre park will be built northwest of the intersection of El Toro Road and Portola Parkway and be bordered on the north by Rancho Parkway, which will be extended to intersect with Portola Parkway.

Clearing and grubbing at the site of the sports park is wrapping up this month. Mass grading of the site is expected to begin in May.

Construction is scheduled to begin in earnest in August.