Fairview Park event will focus on preservation

A group of Fairview Park activists are hosting a free event Saturday designed to promote preservation of the land.

The Fairview Park Preservation Alliance event goes from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Costa Mesa park’s picnic area, near the main parking lot off Placentia Avenue.

It will feature tours by Native Americans, biologists and archaeologists, who will discuss the 208-acre park’s plants, animals and Native American history.

Saturday’s event will also offer train rides from the Orange County Model Engineers and free food.

Fairview Park contains the Fairview Indian Site, an archaeological remnant of a village that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park also contains rare birds, as well as the San Diego fairy shrimp, a tiny endangered species that lives in temporary wetlands that fill up with water after rainfall.

The alliance and others have advocated against new development within Fairview, particularly constructing athletic fields — which, on the flip side, youth sports boosters say are badly needed to meet community demand.

“Residents have organized to save Fairview Park from development,” according to the event’s flier. “Please join us at Fairview Park to celebrate.”

—Bradley Zint

Twitter: @bradleyzint