No little plans for new city hall

readyAn open letter to the new Newport Beach city hall site committee:

“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood.... Make big plans; aim high in hope and work.”

So said Daniel Burnham, a founding pioneer of both American architecture and city planning, more than a century ago.

It is in this vein that I would like to suggest an alternate site and vision for Newport Beach’s new city hall, after a 45-year career as a professional city planner and almost 35 years as a Newport Beach resident.

The site is already owned by the city, is much more central in the city, and, most important, is a spectacular site that is grossly under used today.

The site of which I write was formerly known as Upper Bayview Landing, and now named Back Bay View Park, at the northwest corner of Jamboree and East Coast Highway, in the very center of Newport Beach. It is large enough for a city hall (at least as I envision it); and could be a location for a truly world-class hall, befitting what we like to consider a world-class city.

How do I envision such a city hall? I envision a partially underground garage (open on the north and west), taking access from the intersection on East Coast Highway now serving the Promontory Point complex, with a driveway that would immediately turn right into the garage. At the surface level (which would be slightly lower than the level of East Coast Highway, so that cars passing by could see the magnificent view of the Back Bay and the mountains behind) would be a people-friendly plaza on top of the garage, surrounded by real landscaping, and interrupted only by the elevator structure and the pillars supporting the building above.

In my vision, the building would have it’s length parallel to East Coast Highway and a narrow width facing Jamboree. It would be several stories high, sheathed in reflective glass so as to reflect the sky and clouds around it. It would be slightly curved, to enhance those reflections. All of the floors would have magnificent views to the north; and the upper floors would also have magnificent views to the south, over the harbor and the Balboa Pavilion to the ocean beyond.

The top floor would be a community meeting room and gallery that would be the most spectacular such room in the western United States! It would be a magnificent structure, attracting recognition to Newport Beach from around the world.

Are there problems with such a vision? You bet! Among them are the following:

* The site is a completed park. (AlthoughI must say, it is one of the least attractive and least accessible parks that I have ever seen.) This means there are probably deed restrictions that would have to be amended, park advocates that would be offended and perhaps even funding grants that would have to be returned. In addition, a Greenlight vote would probably be required.

* It would, obviously, be very expensive to build. The driveway would have to be at least partially on columns, as the full depth of this shallow portion of the property opposite the intersection (about 120 feet) is at least partially over a slope and much lower area. Digging out and exporting all the dirt for the garage would be quite expensive. And creating an open plaza at the surface level, with a multi-story building on columns above it, is obviously a very expensive method of construction.

* This would be an urban vision, requiring garage parking, elevators and a modern, curving, glass-sheathed building suitable for the 21st century -- but unlike almost anything that has been built in Newport Beach heretofore.

Maybe this is a vision that is just too far out there and too far beyond the box. But shouldn’t such an option be at least be considered for a city with a potential as great as that of Newport Beach?

Thank you for your consideration of this far out idea.

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Barry Eaton is a Newport Beach planning commissioner.