BREA : Historic City Hall to Be Renovated for Scouting Center

The city and the Brea Lions have joined to restore the historic old city hall as a future home for local youth Scouting programs.

Under an agreement approved unanimously by the City Council last week, the un-reinforced masonry building at Brea Boulevard and Date Street will undergo seismic retrofitting and other repairs. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The city will contribute $200,000 to the first phase of renovation, and the Brea Lions Scout Center Foundation will be responsible for nearly $168,000. The foundation formed to create a center for local Boy Scout and Girl Scout activities.

The foundation also will attempt to raise more than $367,000 for the second phase, which will involve further renovations to accommodate the Scouts. The $27,000 annual rent for the building will be reduced by the amount the foundation puts into the building.

“It would give (the Scouts) a visible, permanent presence,” said Assistant City Manager Tim O’Donnell. He described the $700,000 renovation project as “quite an ambitious undertaking.”

Foundation director Lyle Sutton called for widespread community support of fund-raising efforts for the center, which would give Scouting activities a boost and “keep a real part of Brea’s history intact.”

The Scouts originally planned to build a new center at Arovista Park, where they had been headquartered until 1988. The center would have been built with private funds, then turned over to the city for operational and maintenance purposes.

About a year ago, however, the financially burdened city decided it could not take on the added responsibility of running a new center.

That led to lengthy negotiations concerning the old City Hall renovation.

“It has been a hair puller,” Mayor Pro Tem Bev Perry said. “But no one gave up.”