Morale Soars as Escondido Unwraps Its New City Hall

Escondido’s new city hall, appropriately opened during the city’s centennial year, is just what the doctor ordered to get the frumpy old downtown back on its feet.

The $15.7-million building, full of light and space, opened for business in late March after suitable ceremonies and a formal gala.

It is the exact opposite of the old building which served the city since 1938 and resembled more of a remodeled basement than a seat of government.

Mayor Jim Rady, usually a critic of city projects, pronounced the new edifice “nice, very nice.”

Best of all, he said, is the “tangible enthusiasm” of the city staff for their new, improved surroundings.

It’s not surprising that the domed and well-windowed building has been such a morale booster after the overcrowded, dank environment the city staff left behind, he said. In the old building, a couple of finance department workers even shared a cell, a remodeled “drunk tank” from the former city jail, he said.

‘A People Building’

Rady said that he won’t move most of his mayoral paper work into his new offices, “because I will only be there a short while.” His term expires in June and he is not seeking re-election. His wife, June, a planning commissioner, has filed for a council post, however.

Councilwoman Doris Thurston, who will become mayor in June under the city’s work-up system, is enchanted with her future offices, which Rady gallantly allowed her to decorate.

To Thurston, the building is perfection, exactly as she had hoped it would be, “a people building.”

“I want people to wake up in the morning and, instead of thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got to go to City Hall,’ to be thinking, ‘I’m glad I’m going to City Hall,’ ” she said.

There are plenty benches for people to rest and relax, or to wait for service, Thurston said. “There are even waiting rooms behind the (service) counters, so that people won’t have to stand in line for long.”

The eye-catching fountain and its reflecting pool also is geared to the public’s likes and dislikes, she explained. Benches ring the water area and a lower pool edge with a shallow trough allows the small fry to dangle their toes in the water without danger.

Thoughtful fountain designers also included a device which cuts down on water pressure when a breeze is blowing, so that those around the fountain won’t get an unexpected spraying.

But the high point of the building, in Thurston’s eyes, is the rotunda. Perhaps calling the domed entranceway a rotunda is a bit presumptuous, she admitted, “but I see it as a place for all kinds of activities, like weddings, receptions and other events. I see it as a place where people will meet.”

The new city building is only the first in a series of civic buildings to be built beside Grape Day Park in the center of town at Valley Parkway and Broadway. Others planned are a museum, performing arts building and theater, other governmental buildings and a campanile, a 300-foot-tall bell tower.

After viewing the finished City Hall, with its impressive rotunda, Thurston is having second thoughts about even needing a campanile to call attention to the complex.

“Or, at least we could put it off for a while now we have our lovely City Hall,” she said.

Councilman Ernie Cowan, who was mayor when ground was broken on the project, feels like a proud parent about the building.

“I haven’t heard one bad word about the building, not one. It’s amazing. Of course, there has been some criticism about the cost,” Cowan said. (The city first planned to spend only $8 million, then upped it to $12 million, then put a cap on its cost at $14 million, but finally bowed to inflation and a $15.7 million price tag.)

There are wrinkles to be ironed out, glitches to be unsnarled, omissions that must be remedied, he admitted, “but I think this is just what we need to start downtown revitalization,” he said.

Councilman Jerry Harmon, usually the lone “nay” vote on the Escondido council, votes “yea” along with his colleagues on the 108,000-square-foot wonder.

The consensus of the council is that it’s like moving out of a dungeon into a Taj Mahal.

“Most of all, I like the feeling I get when I’m in it,” Harmon said of the new building. “It’s the feeling of openness. It’s a good feeling to have in a government building. Government ought to be operated in a goldfish bowl.”