Simultaneous Mini Golf, Wave Pool, Beer Approved for La Pata

Construction will start soon on a mini-golf course, wave pool and concession stand approved to sell beer and wine at the new La Pata/Vista Hermosa Sports Park now under construction.

The complex, which will be on about 1.5 acres of the sports park, will be fenced off from the Little League and soccer and other play areas throughout the park, and the owner of the venture, Scott Melcher, said staffers would be on hand to make sure no alcohol went in or out of the complex.

Construction is slated for completion by the end of the year, but the sports park will be finished in October, said city officials.

At last week’s council meeting, all the council members voted in favor of approving the use permits for the park, but Mayor Lori Donchak and Councilman Tim Brown voted against the alcohol license. 

The lease for the space at the park will still have to be negotiated, and City Manager George Scarborough assured Donchak and Brown that the city could insert a provision giving the council the right to come back and re-examine the alcohol permit after a few months if there were alcohol-related incidents reported. 

The golf/wave pool facility, will also contain an 18-hole, luxury miniature golf course, which, according to Melcher, will be “different than anything we have ever seen.”

The “flow rider” system to create the waves is specifically meant for people ages  8 to 18, he said.

The park will provide an additional safe haven for the children of San Clemente.

It will be built as an accessory structure within the La Pata/Vista Hermosa Park. Other features to be a part of that project, now under construction, include baseball and soccer fields, as well as development for clean-energy solar electric panels.

— Andrew Ferri contributed to this story.