Irvine’s Shining Example of a Modern City Hall : Design: When this South County community planned its municipal building, it had the comfort of employees and the public in mind.

When the new cities of South Orange County dream of a city hall to reflect the pride of municipal self-rule, they often look no farther than Irvine.

There, a $38-million state-of-the-art edifice has arisen--home to 600 city employees, a 2,500-square-foot gym and engineered to make citizens feel comfortable and welcome.

And at least part of the credit for the facility, city officials say, goes to Clint Eastwood.

The actor, who served as mayor of Carmel, struck a chord with Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. several years ago during Brady’s nationwide tour of cities that served as his research into Irvine’s new city hall, which opened in April, 1989.

Eastwood and Brady are fitness fanatics, and both believe that regular workouts are stress reducers. So, as in Carmel, Irvine incorporated a workout area into its new city hall for the nearly 600 full-time city employees.

“We call it our wellness center,” said Brady, a member of the city staff since Irvine incorporated in 1971. “It’s heavily used by our employees, which I’m pleased to say.”

Inside the 2,500-square-foot gym, there are weights, a Lifecycle, Stairmaster, all donated to the city, and lockers for men and women.

But city employees don’t just take off on their own fitness regimen.

“Before the staff can use the equipment, they are tested and offered personal advice on fitness and nutrition by a consultant we have hired,” Brady said.

Brady was on a committee that spent countless hours of research, including travel to various cities, into the designs of city halls. The results of its studies were incorporated into the Irvine City Hall plans.

“We used a process that I don’t think many cities do or want to do,” Brady said. “The first thing we did was have consultants sit down with the citizens, we called them ‘squatter sessions,’ and had them tell us what they thought City Hall should be like or not be like. I think the people of this city felt like they were part of the process, which they were.”

The results of those sessions show up in the present facility in a variety of incarnations:

* Departments centralized under one roof for “one-stop shopping” for residents, especially the Police Department. “I want the police to be part of the city family, not locked behind closed doors,” said Brady, who is a former policeman.

* Counter access for every department and glass partitions whenever possible. “We wanted people to be able to see each other. Bureaucracies are difficult enough to deal with, and we did not want City Hall to become a monolith if possible,” Brady said.

* A three-level parking structure over a secured area for the police fleet and inspection vehicles.

* A standby automatic diesel generator which will start automatically with any interruption of power. It will provide emergency electricity for all of the police wing, computer operations, and communications.

* A council chamber that seats 199 plus overflow for 50 to 70 more people.

The best thing about the Irvine City Hall may be its financing, Brady said. Thanks to the city’s asset-management plan, Brady expects it to be paid for by 1997, eight years sooner than expected.