Alicia RobinsonIn the city’s public works and...

Alicia Robinson

In the city’s public works and planning departments, stepping into

someone’s office could mean stepping into a hallway.

The city staff and its workload have grown so much since the

various City Hall facilities were built, once-spacious corridors have

become a prime place to store files or put employee work stations.

To combat that problem, Newport Beach officials have been looking

at replacing City Hall and the adjacent fire station with more

modern, efficient facilities. A 2003 study showed that the City Hall

complex is cramped, obsolete and confusing to the public. The

buildings also don’t meet requirements to accommodate disabled

visitors or withstand an earthquake.

The City Council will take another step tonight, when it considers

hiring a firm to draw up preliminary plans for a new City Hall

complex. A contract was approved with Griffin Structures Inc. in June

2003, but the city didn’t move forward because one of the firm’s

other projects created a conflict of interest.

Now that conflict is gone, so the council will again look at

hiring Griffin for $578,185 to gather public input and create a basic

design.

A new 60,000-square-foot City Hall, a 350-space parking structure

and a fire station are likely to cost upwards of $20 million, which

was a 2003 estimate for new city facilities.

“Our existing City Hall is archaic, and it is embarrassing,” Mayor

Steve Bromberg said. “We’re not looking to build a Taj Mahal. We just

need to have a decent place for our people to work.”

The complex consists of four administrative buildings, the council

chambers and several free-standing trailers that house water-quality

code enforcement and other offices. The main building that includes

offices for the city clerk and city manager was built in the early

1940s, and all the buildings have been remodeled various times,

Public Works Director Steve Badum said.

The configuration of offices sometimes requires visitors to go

from one building to another to complete one piece of business, and

the lack of parking can be frustrating for them, Badum said.

“By the time they get to the counter, they’re already a little

upset about how hard it was to find a place to park,” he said.

If the council approves the contract with Griffin tonight, the

firm will schedule public workshops to find out how residents think

City Hall could better serve them. The city has offered tours to

anyone who thinks a new City Hall is unnecessary.

It may take more than a tour to convince Councilman John

Heffernan, who said the city needs to research all its options more

thoroughly before hiring a design firm.

“Kind of like going downhill on a ski slope, these projects gain

momentum,” Heffernan said. “I think there’s a lot more outreach

that’s needed before we embark on what might be a $40-million

project.”

Though he’s admittedly in the minority, Councilman Don Webb said

he favors saving the main building -- the oldest -- and the planning

and public works building, which dates from 1980 and is the newest of

the facilities

“We need more space; I’m not against that,” Webb said, but he

thinks space can be added more cheaply by reusing some existing

facilities.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at alicia.robinson

@latimes.com.