GARDEN GROVE : Old OCTA Building to Be New City Hall

City Council members recently voted to buy the Ralph B. Clark Orange County Transportation Authority building for $1.2 million and convert it into a new city hall.

Expected to open late this year, the new city hall will be at 11222 Acacia Parkway, west of the current City Hall and across the street from the city’s public safety building.

The current City Hall, at 11391 Acacia Parkway, which opened as a school building 70 years ago, needs significant work, officials said, and would have required major and costly rehabilitation.

The current City Hall fails to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, doesn’t meet current earthquake and emergency exit requirements, would require new plumbing and costly asbestos mitigation in the event of remodeling and has unacceptable water quality, according to officials.

In addition, officials said, the electrical wiring system is old and the lighting and cooling systems are inefficient.

Rehabilitating the building would cost about $2.7 million, acting Fire Chief Vincent Bonacker said in a report to the City Council.

While purchase of the 45,000-square-foot, 15-year-old transportation building is set at $1.2 million, the cost for building modifications, demolition of the current City Hall and installation of new telephone and computer systems are expected to push the cost to $2.3 million.

The future city hall was formerly the administrative headquarters for the Orange County Transportation Authority, which is vacating the structure after consolidating administrative functions at a new site.

The building’s purchase is financed through a bond sale last year by the city’s redevelopment agency.

“It will be millions of dollars cheaper than redoing the old building, and you still would have a 70-year-old building,” said Mayor Frank Kessler.