Tustin Legacy (Former Marine Corps Air Station Tustin) (Tustin, California)

 closed / former military, historic landmark, United States Marine Corps

Marine Corps Air Station Tustin was established in 1942 as Santa Ana Naval Air Station, a base for airship operations in support of the United States Navy's coastal patrol efforts during World War II. NAS Santa Ana was decommissioned in 1949. In 1951, the facility was reactivated to support the Korean War. It was the country's first air facility developed solely for helicopter operations. By the early 1990s, MCAS Tustin was a major center for Marine Corps helicopter aviation on the Pacific Coast. Its primary purpose was to provide support services and material for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and for other units utilizing the base. About 4,500 residents once lived on the base, and the base employed nearly 5,000 military personnel and civilians. In addition to providing military support, MCAS Tustin leased 530 acres to farmers for commercial crop development. For many years, agricultural lands surrounded the facility. However beginning in the 1980s residential and light industrial/manufacturing areas developed adjacent to the station.

In 1991 and again in 1993, under the authority of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990, it was announced that MCAS Tustin would be closed. Operational closure of the base occurred in July, 1999. Of the approximately 1,600 acres, some 1,294 acres (now known collectively as "Tustin Legacy") have been conveyed to the City of Tustin, private developers and public institutions for a combination of residential, commercial, educational, and public recreational and open-space uses. The remaining 300-plus acres will be conveyed to other federal agencies, the City of Tustin and public institutions for the same uses once environmental clean-up operations have been concluded.

The Tustin Legacy planned community project, under construction, will include parks, a commercial retail center and various densities of housing. The project's shopping center, named "The District", opened in August 2007. Other completed projects include the Orange County Sheriff's Regional Training Academy, opened in Tustin Legacy in September 2007, and the South Orange County Community College District's Advanced Technology & Education Park (ATEP). Initial classes began in August 2007. The first school built, the former K-5 Heritage Elementary school, is now currently called Tustin Adult School & Sycamore High School, a continuation learning facility. The Orange County Fire Authority has built a facility in Tustin Legacy at the corner of Edinger Ave and Kensington Park Dr.

The first community built, Tustin Field, consisting of Tustin Field I and Tustin Field II, was completed in 2006. Tustin Field I consists of 376 housing units and Tustin Field II consists of 189 housing units. The second community called Villages of Columbus, consisting of Columbus Square and Columbus Grove was completed in 2013. Columbus Square has a total of 1,075 total housing units and 240 senior apartments (Coventry Court). Columbus Grove has 465 total housing units completed. On the corner of Valencia South Loop Road and Warner is The St. Anton Apartments which are 225 affordable apartments, leasing will start by the end of 2014. Amalfi Apartment Homes will also start leasing around the end of 2014 and contains 500 Apartment units. Amalfi is located on Legacy Road and Tustin Ranch Road.

www.tustinlegacy.com/
www.militarymuseum.org/MCASTustin.html
Many pictures of the former air station while in service and waiting for redevelopment: members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/CA/Airfields_CA_Or...