Renderings courtesy of City of Long Beach.

Designs for the Long Beach Civic Center project will be unveiled for public review during two public meetings tomorrow, the City of Long Beach announced today.

“Our new Civic Center design is bold, timeless, and creates a world class Downtown Library and park,” said Mayor Robert Garcia in a statement. “These designs were developed with input from hundreds of residents who participated in our community meetings and forums.”

He added, “I am also especially proud that so many local architects provided ideas and feedback on the proposed new designs.”

The Parks and Recreation Commission will review amenities for the redesigned park at 9:00AM during a Study Session to be held at El Dorado Park West Community Center Senior Center Library at 2800 North Studebaker Road.

The Planning Commission will review the design of the buildings during a Study Session at 5:00PM at Long Beach City Hall Council Chambers, located at 333 West Ocean Boulevard.

While public comment will be taken at both meetings, no actions will be taken.

“It’s very gratifying to see the passion, intelligence and vision of our community members shaping the new Civic Center,” said Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal in a statement.

According to the release, the public portions of the Long Beach Civic Center Project include a new seismically safe Long Beach City Hall, Port of Long Beach Headquarters and Main Library alongside a redesigned park. The private portions include transit-oriented mixed-use developments, high-rise condominiums and retail.

Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez said the new Civic Center will energize the downtown area and bring new economic opportunities.

According to the release, the Civic Center project features lease-leaseback and Design-Bid-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM) public-private partnerships, which are designed to keep the city’s annual payment at approximately the same amount that the city currently pays for Civic Center maintenance and operation, as well as off-site leases, adjusted for future inflation.

The Civic Center project is necessary because the existing City Hall and Main Library have been found to be seismically deficient, and will generate more than 3,700 direct and indirect jobs in Long Beach.

Community outreach for the Long Beach Civic Center project featured more than 65 meetings, including at least one meeting in each Council District, 26 community meetings, three special purpose meetings and 28 stakeholder meetings. Attendees voiced a desire to improve the look of the buildings, while participants shared their ideas on multiple topics, including walkability, retail and restaurants, events and programming, parking and budget.