Newport Beach is moving forward with what Mayor Ed Selich calls an “aggressive” schedule to finalize design plans for the next city hall.
The city hopes to appoint a committee to find an architect to design the building next month and award a contract to the winning architect by the end of the year.
Selich, who is part of the city’s building committee that will appoint the design committee, said he will look for architects with open minds.
“I would look for people who don’t have any kind of preconceived notions on what city hall should or not look like, people who are residents of the city who care about the city and care about the long-term interests of the city,” he said.
The Newport Beach City Council unanimously approved plans Tuesday night to confirm a 12.8-acre piece of city-owned land next to the library as the rightful spot for a new city hall and set up a design committee for the project after months of debate and a successful municipal ballot measure on the issue.
The city is looking for four licensed architects and one licensed landscape architect to oversee a design competition to design the new building. Members of the committee must be residents of Newport Beach and have at least five years of experience.
Ideally, the members will have background designing large-scale commercial or public facilities, according to a city staff report.
The architects will have to walk a fine line between aesthetic considerations, costs, the impact of City Hall on traffic in Newport Center and other concerns, said Councilman Keith Curry at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Curry has been outspoken in his opposition to building city hall on the site next to the library, but voted in favor of the project Tuesday in the spirit of “moving forward as a united council,” he said.
Voters approved the city hall location in the Feb. 5 election with the passage of Measure B, based on promises of minimal traffic impact, low cost and the preservation of part of the site as a park, Curry said.
“We need to seek to see these assertions are met as we go forward,” he said.
Applications are due at the Newport Beach City Clerk’s office by 5 p.m. March 4.
The city’s goal is to recommend committee members by the March 11 City Council meeting and award a contract to build the new city hall by Dec. 9.
