Corona del Mar Today: Landscaping to cover wall that featured mural

The new owner of the John Blom photography studio building at 3732 E. Coast Hwy. has painted over a mural on the side of the structure and plans to add a "living wall" that will be covered in succulents that form a design.

The mural depicted pelicans holding waving pictures of seascapes and a church, floating in a blue, cloud-filled sky.

Blom returned from vacation to see the mural was gone, but he said it was the new owner's right to paint over it.

"It was good while it lasted," he said.

Blom recently sold the building and is closing his studio, but he'll continue to work with clients on locations.

Bryan Seigel, 55, of Newport Coast, bought the building and has already begun making changes, he said in a telephone interview this week.

"The transformation will be beautiful," he said. "I want it to be very special. It'll have shimmering lights, an atrium with a water feature … You'll take a second look. It'll be just quaint."

The front of the building will have a brick facade with arched windows, he said.

The building will be divided into space for two businesses, one of which could be a high-end dessert business that is in negotiations for a lease.

"I've had a lot of inquiries," he said.

Siegel said he sees Corona del Mar as a "diamond in the rough" with many commercial buildings that need updating. With a background in fashion accessory design, he specializes now in taking commercial properties and updating them.

"I'm trying to bring new blood to Corona del Mar," he said. "It's going to stop traffic. It'll be a show-stopper. My goal is to put a new face on Corona del Mar. They'll like it. Corona del Mar residents don't want another bank."

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Civic Center opening closer

If everything goes as planned — and so far, everything is — the Newport Beach City Council could hold its December meeting in the new Civic Center, Councilman Ed Selich said Thursday.

"They say it will be open in December for the first council meeting, and I believed them," Selich told the Corona del Mar Residents Assn. board at its monthly meeting at the OASIS Senior Center.

The new Civic Center broke ground in May 2010 on Avocado Avenue. The project will include a new City Hall, a 450-space parking structure, a 17,000-square-foot expansion of the Newport Beach Central Library, a 16-acre park including a dog park and 1.23 miles of walking and viewing trails.

The total costs is $128 million, according to a city web page.