The Great Park Garden Coalition is a community-based 501c3 nonprofit organization formed in 2017 with a mandate to save the 2007-approved botanic garden at the Great Park. Since then we have tirelessly collaborated with city leaders, staff and consultants to preserve a site for the garden and develop world class concept plans. We all have one goal in common – to ensure that future generations have the opportunity to share the beauty and knowledge to be found at the Great Park Botanic Garden.
OUR MISSION
The Great Park Garden Coalition’s ultimate mission is to envision, inspire, protect, and guide thoughtful leaders in creating and building a world-class destination garden at the Great Park in Irvine for generations to come.
OUR QUEST
Please Help Save the 59-acre Botanical Garden in the Cultural Terrace.
The Orange County Great Park, on a section of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, continues its evolution across 1,300 acres. One big question remains: Will a world-class garden be part of the Irvine legacy? A 59-acre Botanical Garden was included in the City-approved 2007 Orange County Great Park Master Plan. But now the City is re-evaluating the uses to be included in the Cultural Terrace area of the Great Park where the Botanical Garden was planned to be located.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The last section of the Great Park to be planned is the 223-acre Cultural Terrace District. In 2017, the City conducted several public surveys to get input on possible land uses for the Cultural Terrace. The results showed that 82-percent of those who responded wanted a Botanic Garden to be included (even though it wasn’t listed on the survey; all responses were personally added). The vision for this area currently includes a water park, amphitheater, museums, library, and because of public outcry… potentially, a botanic garden. City Council members have indicated an “interest” in a garden, but have not yet allocated acreage.
The Great Park Garden Coalition needs your help to make sure there’s a Great Garden in the Great Park! Without strong public support, it’s possible that private for-profit tenants will out-weigh the clear and unquestionable public voice for a public garden.
The time is now to make your views known to elected leaders!
GPGC is a Great Park Partner
Being a Great Park Partner means the Great Park Garden Coalition plays an active, collaborative role in shaping the future of Irvine’s Great Park. As highlighted in the City of Irvine’s StoryMap, partners like the Coalition bring vision, expertise, and community support to key components of the park’s development. Through this partnership, the Coalition is working alongside the City to bring the 59-acre Botanic Garden to life—a vibrant, educational, and sustainable space that will serve generations to come.
OUR PROGRESS
Multiple sites for the Garden have been suggested and discarded since our formation in 2017. One constant is the Coalition’s persistence in preserving the Garden. We wish to express our profound thanks to the City Council members, city staff, consultants, our members, and the public for their ongoing support resulting in a 38 acre site for the Garden (Item 9) in Great Park Framework Plan.
Look for us at City events such as the Irvine Global Village Festival, City Council and Great Park Board Meetings and Great Park Open House/State of the Great Park events. Or contact us at gpgardencoalition@gmail.com for a presentation to interested groups.
MEET THE BOARD MEMBERS
TEENA SPINDLER
PRESIDENT
Teena Spindler is a life long garden lover and comes from a career in finance and accounting in the real estate investment and development industry. (Vice President Finance for The Kremer Company, Division Controller for the Irvine Company). She is also a University of California Master Gardener since 2006 and led the Master Gardener volunteers who created the Farm + Food Lab garden at the Orange County Great Park in partnership with the City of Irvine. Her non-profit experience includes serving as Treasurer for The Kremer Foundation and the Spindler Family Foundation.
KATRINA KIRKEBY
VICE PRESIDENT | BOARD MEMBER
Katrina is a life long garden lover and community leader. After retiring from a career in the mortgage banking industry Katrina has been an advocate for the preservation of open space and horticulture. Her passions have guided her volunteerism. She became a University of California Master Gardener in 2011 and is the producer of the award-winning radio show ‘In the Garden with University of California Master Gardeners’, a weekly gardening show on KUCI FM. She is a long term resident of Orange County where she has worked to preserve open spaces.
NORMA YARBROUGH
TREASURER
Norma Yarbrough learned to love gardening from her parents. Her career spans over 40 years in accounting and tax industries. Norma worked for the Department of the Navy in Pensacola and the Marine Corps at MCAS Tustin and MCAS El Toro. She retired after 32 years with the Internal Revenue Service in areas of individual and corporate taxes both locally and nationally. Norma has been a Master Gardener since 2002 and is involved in many aspects of the organization. Her non-profit experience includes serving on the Board for the LosCab Booster Club, Inc. and the Yarbrough Family Trust.
KAY HAVENS
CORPORATE SECRETARY
As a Director for a local water district, UCCE Master Gardener plus a sustainable landscape expert, Kay has helped initiate and develop apex educational programs that have won top state and international awards. Other nonprofit and volunteer experiences include: Chairing the Irvine Meals on Wheels Board, President University High Aquatics Board. Attending America Public Garden Association (APGA) conferences. She believes in the power of a botanic garden to be an educational, cultural, and environmental hub in Irvine.
SHEILA PETERSON
BOARD MEMBER
Sheila Peterson is a wife, mother, and grandmother in addition to being a community leader and avid gardener. She grew up in Huntington Beach and had a career in early childhood education and then technical training in the semiconductor industry. She became a Master Gardener through the UCCE Master Gardener Program in 2000 and has donated numerous hours to volunteer gardening venues throughout the years as well as written various gardening articles and blog posts for several publications.
Sheila supports many non-profit organizations throughout Orange County and has been an activist for the advancement of integrative medicine and healthy eating and is president of Beachside Books. Sheila is a Trustee at UCI and the Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute and is on the board of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UC Irvine.