The Long Beach Civic Center shortly after opening in 1978.
After a lengthy discussion on the urgency of the matter, City Council voted Tuesday night to allow City management to move forward with gathering ideas on the development of a new civic center. Alongside the release of a Request for Qualifications, there will also be a parallel endeavor to peer review, and possibly perform a second review, of the seismic assessment study on the current complex performed back in 2006.
An RFQ is an early first step in a development’s process and is not the same as a Request for Proposal. The chief difference being that a RFQ is a request to merely identify, within development communities, if there is any interest in the project. Teams or individuals will be able to present ideas and concepts before any decisions will be made on whether the project will actually happen.
In 2006, a Seismic Integrity Study determined that retrofit, relocation and other costs associated with the seismic deficiencies to the 39 year-old Civic Center buildings would cost $119 million. City Management estimates that these costs would now be approximately $170 million in total.
A major issue with the current structures is the Main Library, a key component of the current site. According to City officials, the library has suffered “decades of maintenance challenges,” including an inability to prevent near-constant water leakage. The building also suffers significant deficiencies in building systems and,according to a City report, “is wholly inefficient in its use of space.”
This seismic study also determined that if City Hall were to suffer an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude, then the four wings would have catastrophic failures. The wings have weak connections, deformed columns and excessive weight due to concrete panels, and would separate from main building and collapse. These wings hold the elevators and staircases for the building, which would then lead to an inescapable situation in the event of structural failure.
“We can’t just let this building go unattended,” said Assistant City Manager Suzanne Frick. If such a disaster were to occur, “the entire building would be completely unusable,” which would negate smaller projects to alleviate concerns of trapped city employees.
Along with the seismic insecurity, “the Civic Center is not optimized for sustainability and energy efficiency,” said Frick. “There are many opportunities to reduce costs in the long run and improve the efficiencies of this particular building.”
Some solutions to offset the possible costs of redevelopment of the Civic Center include partnering with the Port of Long Beach in providing office space, consolidating off-site leases to bring all staff to City Hall and seeking other private-public parnerships such as was done for the new Deukmejian Courthouse currently being built.
“The guiding principle is to ensure a secure and safe City Hall. We don’t want to spend more than we are currently spending,” said Frick.
However not all members of City Council were convinced that there was an urgency, even to hear concepts and ideas for the Civic Center. Several members of the City Council stressed the importance of need over want, focusing on confirming the 2006 seismic study to be accurate, and if need be, produce another study, even if the findings come back more financially burdensome.
“Safety is a number one concern,” said 4th District Councilmember Patrick O’Donnell. “This is a huge project, and we have to make sure everyone is informed.”
But this process will take several more steps before anything is finalized. If teams are selected from the RFQ, “there will be a significant community process to participate in the direction of this building,” says Frick.
At the moment no plans have been drafted and the only money figures in play are what the 2006 study says are necessary to bring the Civic Center up to current building codes. A group of local architects (many of whom have produced work for civic projects before) did host a lecture series last year that addressed the possibilities for the Civic Center, but their discussion focused on designs rather than costs.
However, City Management emphasized many possibilities for a new Civic Center.
“[The goal is] to strive to better serve Downtown residents and employees, and reconnect the Civic Center with surrounding environs,” said Frick.
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Read more:
- Lecture Series Addresses Future of Civic Center
- OP-ED: Why is the City MIA From Talks On Civic Center Change?
- STREETSBLOG: Architects Propose Their Vision For Long Beach Civic Center
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