The new Frontwave Arena at El Corazon Park in Oceanside has agreed to pay the city up to $350,000 a year to have police officers work at events there.
Oceanside police will provide a minimum of two officers and a sergeant at certain events for the length of time needed by the event’s duration. The assignments will not affect police coverage elsewhere in the city, an administrator said.
Duties will include maintaining order, responding to emergencies, and protecting people and property at the venue, a city report states. The City Council approved the agreement Dec. 4. It covers Sept. 10, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2026.
The 7,500-seat Frontwave Arena opened Sept. 16 with a sold-out show by Simone Biles, the most decorated American gymnast in history, and a team of athletes and dancers in the Gold Over America Tour.
The arena is home to the 16-time champion San Diego Sockers professional soccer team and the San Diego Clippers, the NBA G League affiliate of the L.A. Clippers, and it hosts other sports and entertainment events, including concerts, comedy shows and community activities.
The arena is in the southeast quadrant of the city’s 465-acre El Corazon property, at Oceanside Boulevard and Rancho Del Oro Road. It sits near the 22-field SoCal Sports soccer complex that opened in 2014, the new William Wagner Aquatics Center, the El Corazon Senior Center, and a growing complex of apartments and townhomes.
Also in the works is a 17-acre community park with sports fields, parking spaces, and other features still to be decided.
The El Corazon property was an open-pit sand mine for decades before the city acquired it in 1994.
Development of the property is guided by a specific plan the City Council adopted in 2009. The plan set aside some areas for commercial and residential development, with the idea they would provide revenue for the city to build and maintain the parks.
