Newport Center/Fashion Island’s 50-year history to be told by the pioneers who planned and built it

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Come hear how a patch of dirt that hosted the 1953 Boy Scout Jamboree grew into the city’s preeminent business and retail center.

On Nov. 21, three key figures behind the birth, growth and evolution of Newport Center/Fashion Island will give first-hand accounts of its 50-year history in a free lecture at the Newport Beach Central Library.

“From Pup Tents to Prominence” features recollections by Alberto F. Trevino Jr., who designed Newport Center/Fashion Island from 1961-65; William R. Watt, who oversaw its construction from 1965-67; and Steven Kellenberg, current senior vice president of Irvine Company’s Community Design Studio.

Aerial photographs spanning 50 years will illustrate their talks.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 to 8:30 p.m. talk in the Friends of the Library room at the Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave., in Newport Beach.

The lecture tells the story behind the Newport Beach Arts Commission’s current exhibit, “Half-Century Aerial Photography Retrospective: Newport Center/Fashion Island,” which runs through Dec. 2, free, at the Central Library.

Both exhibit and lecture were arranged by Fred L. Emmert and Richard N. Frost, co-authors of the 2015 book, “Half Century Aerial Photography Retrospective: Newport Center/Fashion Island.”

Newport Center/Fashion Island is home to more than 250 companies with over 20,000 employees, nearly 200 retail stores and restaurants, and a variety of housing communities.

• WHAT: “From Pup Tents To Prominence” lecture on history of Newport Center / Fashion Island
• WHERE: Newport Beach Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave., Newport Beach
• WHEN: 7-8:30 p.m., Mon., Nov. 21. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
• COST: Free

About Irvine Company
Irvine Company is a privately held real-estate investment company and master-planner, highly respected for its stewardship and master planning of The Irvine Ranch in Orange County, Calif. With diversified operations throughout coastal California, Irvine Company plans and brings to life balanced, sustainable communities with a full range of housing, job and retail centers, schools, recreation, and permanently preserved open space.

Irvine Company is committed to long-term ownership of a high-quality portfolio, the breadth and quality of which are unmatched in the industry. With each property positioned at the top of its class, the company’s holdings include more than 500 office buildings, nearly 160 apartment communities, 43 retail centers, five marinas, three hotels and two golf clubs. These investment properties primarily lie in Orange County, with about a third of them in San Diego, West Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Chicago and New York.

Irvine Company also maintains a long tradition of philanthropy and environmental stewardship, including its dedication of more than 57,000 acres—approximately 60% of the historic Irvine Ranch—for permanently preserved open space.

The privately held, diversified company traces its roots to the 1860s with the formation of The Irvine Ranch from Mexican and Spanish land grants.