"It should be a representation of a traditional village, more than just a place setting," Heidi Lucero told the Orange County Register in January 2024. At the time she chaired the faction known as Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation 84A, and Irvine had just started talking about building that kind of place in Portola Springs.
Two and a half years later, the half-acre Native American garden beside the community center has spent the summer under construction. The City's contract titles the project "Portola Springs Community Park Indigenous Interpretative Space – Phase 1." The garden you walk past on the way to the playground or the pickleball lessons is the first built piece of a larger idea. What Phase 1 delivers is mostly living material, and living material takes time. The space will look different next spring than it does this October, and the village-style elements that started the conversation are not among the documented features.
What crews built between March and September
The City signed a construction contract with Earthscapes Landscape, Inc. on March 16, 2026, for a stipulated price of $813,830. Kimley-Horn and Associates prepared the plans. The City's monthly construction reports trace the work from there:
- By early July 2026: The contractor had demolished the existing decomposed granite, rerouted irrigation, finished installing catch basins, and started excavating a dry river bed. The City expected completion in fall 2026.
- August 2026: Crews planted trees and shrubs, installed a new retaining curb and footings for site furniture, and placed river rock across the site.
- September 2026: The plan for the month was to finish the remaining site improvements, work through punch-list items, and do final cleanup. The City expected the project to be substantially complete by September 18.
- After that: The project moves into what the City calls the plant establishment period.
In the September 2026 report, the project includes native planting, trail pathways, seating areas, and educational signage that highlights local, pre-contact Indigenous history. The City calls it an outdoor extension of the Native American Wing at Portola Springs Community Center.
As of today, October 12, we have not found a City announcement of a formal opening or a dedication date. The September report predicted completion. It did not confirm it. If a ribbon cutting is scheduled, it has not shown up in the public material we reviewed.
The village idea that started it
According to the City's October 8, 2024 staff report, the City Council took up the idea on January 9, 2024. Payómkawichum Kaámalam, a nonprofit that serves as a cultural advocate and resource manager for the Acjachemen people, had brought it forward. The model everyone pointed to was the Village of Putuidem in San Juan Capistrano. The staff report describes it as preserving a sacred gathering place for descendants of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation.
The Orange County Register described Putuidem as a 1.5-acre tribal park. It has an amphitheater area with boulders and log seats, a trail, and depictions of Acjachemen life that include ramadas, kiichas, and manos. Then-Councilmember Kathleen Treseder told the paper she pictured Irvine's version as "a space in our community for ceremonies, demonstrations, field trips and educational events."
The staff report kept that ambition but treated it as a possibility. Its concept "may include a representation of pre-contact Acjachemen structures and/or a small amphitheater." It recommended listening sessions with local tribes and public outreach before any final design. Staff recommended a $500,000 appropriation from the Local Park Fee Fund for Portola Springs to pay for outreach and design. Staff said construction costs would come back to Council once they were final.
Here is how the 2024 discussion lines up with what the City's 2026 reports actually describe:
| Element | Discussed in 2024 | Documented in Phase 1 reports |
|---|---|---|
| Native planting | Implied by building on the existing garden | Yes, trees and shrubs planted in August |
| Trail pathways | Putuidem includes a trail | Yes |
| Seating | Putuidem has boulder and log seats | Seating areas and furniture footings |
| Educational signage | Expanded storytelling | Yes |
| Dry river bed with river rock | Not mentioned | Yes |
| Pre-contact Acjachemen structures | "May include" | Not mentioned |
| Small amphitheater | "May include" | Not mentioned |
Not being mentioned in a construction report does not mean an element was ruled out. Still, the public documents do not describe any built structures or an amphitheater, and we found nothing that defines, funds, or schedules a Phase 2. Treseder also asked staff to reach out to the Tongva people, according to the Register. The 2024 staff report says City staff met with Payómkawichum Kaámalam, the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians (Acjachemen Nation), and "other Native American tribes," but it does not name the others.
Why the plants set the schedule
The contract shows the timing most clearly. Earthscapes had 90 working days from the notice to proceed to complete construction. The deadline for everything, plant establishment included, was 180 working days. The contract also sets separate penalties for being late on the two phases. Construction delays cost $4,200 per calendar day. Late plant establishment work costs $950 per day.
So the contract gives the plants as much time as the construction. By the time the City set its September 18 target for substantial completion, the irrigation, curbs, rock, and furniture footings had gone in. The plantings were only weeks old. A native garden planted in August will look sparse in October compared with how it should look once the establishment period ends.
That fits the site. The project reworks an existing garden instead of starting fresh somewhere else. The 2024 staff report advised against other locations because this one uses "the existing Native American garden space" and builds on the storytelling already in the park. It also said the garden could be developed into "a space conducive to demonstrations and field trips."
What was already there, and how the new space connects
Portola Springs Community Park opened to the public on January 26, 2019. Its Indigenous storytelling was built in from the start. The City's facility page calls the Native American Wing: Acjachemen Room "a monument to the partnership among the City of Irvine, The Irvine Company, and the Acjachemen people." The same page says the park and center include 124 acres of preserved open space, trails, and the Native American garden. The City describes the 1,651-square-foot room as holding cultural and historical artifacts and displays about Native American tribes that lived in the area. The Acorn Group designed its photomurals, artifact labels, and interpretive panels for The Irvine Company and the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation.
In September 2023, the City held a ribbon-cutting for three sentinel signs in the park. According to the City, the signs describe the Acjachemen people, who lived in the area for nearly 10,000 years. They also describe ‘U∫rónvanga, the place now called Portola Springs, as a busy village, a tool-manufacturing site, and a sacred area.
The pieces were built in order: the room in 2019, the signs in 2023, and now an outdoor space designed to work with the room. Each one adds to the same story about the same ground. The Register quoted Joyce Stanfield Perry, president of Payómkawichum Kaámalam, describing the broader goal as "something in every city within our traditional tribal territory that will honor our people."
Visiting this fall
A few practical notes for neighbors who want to see the space:
- Opening status: We found no published opening date. The September report said the project would enter plant establishment after substantial completion. Public Works & Sustainability takes project questions at 949-724-5546.
- The Acjachemen Room: The City lists it as a rentable room inside the community center. The hours we found date from the 2019 opening and may no longer be accurate. Facility Reservations is at 949-724-6620.
- Picnic tables: Tables around the park cannot be reserved. They are first-come, first-served for groups of 49 or fewer.
- The sentinel signs are already in the park and make a good place to start before you walk over to the garden.
The best way to judge Phase 1 is to visit more than once. Seeing the garden now and again after the establishment period will show how much of the work was underground and how much is only starting to grow.
At Julie Tran, we follow City park projects in Portola Springs from the first staff report through the end of construction, and we're happy to share what we've learned about the neighborhood's parks, trails, and community center. If you'd like to talk through your own plans, request a complimentary consultation and home valuation whenever the timing is right for you.