Irvine : Civic Center Contracts Endorsed by Council

Although its members had little time to review the document that was delivered to them shortly before their meeting, the City Council nevertheless voted to approve about $2 million in architectural contracts for the new civic center.

In a 3-0 vote, with Councilman Larry Agran abstaining and Councilwoman Barbara Wiener absent, the council Tuesday night endorsed a plan to hire a local architectural firm, as well as another firm based in Houston, to design the $19-million structure.

Paul Brady, assistant city manager, said that last-minute negotiations delayed the preparation of the agreements, originally scheduled to have been delivered days earlier.

Agran, who said that “in all likelihood” he would have approved of the agreements, abstained from the vote because he did not have sufficient time to read the documents. He said he received them about an hour before the meeting began.

Wiener, who also said that she was not prepared to vote on the agreements for the same reason, was not present in the council chambers when the vote was taken.

Comprehensive renderings of the basic layout of the 150,000-square-foot civic center, including floor plans and interior decorations, will be completed in late November or early December, Brady said.

Actual working drawings for the center, to be built in Irvine’s Westpark Village north of Culver Drive, will take an additional eight to nine months to complete, he said.