Anaheim Suspends Plans to Build Fire Station at Angel Stadium

Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., on May 24, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Anaheim officials notified the attorney representing the Angels baseball team last week that the city would not move forward with building a fire station at Angel Stadium.

Team owner Arte Moreno’s firm, SRB Management, threatened to sue the city over what his attorney deemed a violation of the team’s lease after Anaheim approved the construction of a fire station in the stadium’s parking lot.

SRB Management sent a letter to the city Sept. 29 saying it was filing a complaint to retrieve $5 million plus legal fees following the city’s decision to void a $320 million sale agreement to buy Anaheim Stadium.

In the letter, the company also gave the city 30 days to drop its plans to build the new fire station, saying the structure would violate the team’s long-term lease agreement with the city.

City Attorney Robert Fabela responded to SRB Management’s attorney Allen Abshez Oct. 27 saying in a letter the city did not agree the structure would violate the lease but had decided to put construction on hold after the team’s threat of litigation.

“In short, disagree that the City’s intent to build Fire Station No. 12 on the site that the parties had previously mutually agreed would be best suited for this important and safety improvement violates the Lease,” Fabela wrote.

The fire station was necessary to address delays in the city’s fire and rescue response times to serve the Platinum Triangle area—an area that includes the stadium and Honda Center arena—and improve safety services at the stadium’s events, Fabela said.

“Having said that, due solely to your threat of litigation and the uncertainty it creates, this letter will confirm that, at this time and until further notice, the City will not move forward with construction of Fire Station No. 12,” he wrote.

The city will continue with the station design and reserves all rights to recover damages from Angels Baseball for the delay or cancelation of the fire station construction, he wrote.