PARK DESIGNER SOUGHT FOR SEASIDE MAKEOVER.

Byline: - Grace Lee

VENTURA - The Ventura County Fair Board moved forward with plans this week to make over the 63-acre oceanfront fairgrounds.

Board member Ginger Gherardi said Tuesday's decision to look for a design consultant was an important step in making the most of the property.

``A lot of people don't know Seaside Park is next to the ocean because it's the parking lot that is adjacent to the ocean,'' she said, adding that activities should be held closer to the ocean view.

The master plan is expected to be completed in about a year. Tentative proposals include an amphitheater and a year-round amusement park.

Raceway supporters expressed little hope that the Ventura Raceway would survive the renovations, noting that none of the tentative drawings presented by the planners included a raceway.

Board members have criticized the raceway for creating too much noise and bringing in too little money.

``The raceway will be gone,'' said Jim Crawford, the vice president of the Committee to Save the Ventura Raceway.

``It's a sad thing,'' he said. ``It's been there forever. It's been around for more than 100 years, back in the day when Ventura was a two-horse town. They used to race horses on it.''

Gherardi denied that the board members had already made their minds about the raceway, saying, ``It's definitely up in the air right now.''

Board member Craig Underwood said the question of the raceway would ``sort itself out in the master planning process.''