Library lecture hall construction contract to be considered Tuesday by Newport Beach City Council

The fate of the city’s library lecture hall hangs in the balance as the Newport Beach City Council considers approving a contract for the building’s construction at their regular meeting this Tuesday.

Final plans for the 9,815-foot structure, to be named Witte Hall, were approved by a previous dais in November 2021 with the expectation that the then-$13 million project would go out to bid the following summer. Bids were received in February 2023, then rejected in April. The project went out to bid again in October, receiving three bids with the lowest of those being from AMG & Associates, Inc. in Santa Clarita for $19.1 million.

City staff said that bid is roughly 3% higher than newly adjusted estimates by city engineers that placed the project at $18.5 million.

The total all-in cost of the project is an estimated $23.5 million, if the $1.4 million in design-related costs incurred is counted in, according to city staff. Maintenance, operation and staffing costs are expected to be approximately $421,500 at a minimum, depending on fluctuations in market costs over the life of the building.

As the cost of the project is higher and was expected to be split evenly between the city and the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation, the existing memorandum of understanding will also be updated Tuesday to reflect that, requiring the foundation to provide the lower number between $11.7 million or 50% of the total project cost.

A newsletter sent out by the foundation on Thursday acknowledged the growth of cost but asked that supporters go to the meeting to “show the Council that the community is very supportive of having a lecture hall, now named Witte Hall, that will serve the community as a real civic space.”

On Friday, the foundation’s chief executive, Jerold Kappel, said, “The Library Foundation, board members, volunteers and donors have dedicated years and resources to raise support and funds from the community for a lecture hall that will be a true civic space for the city.

“Like the libraries, city parks and other civic gathering places, the hall will bring our citizens together to learn, to share experiences and engage in a dialogue that will strengthen our mutual understanding of each other and the world around us. The lecture hall will be open for use by civic and arts organizations, as well as private businesses,” Kappel continued. “The foundation anticipates that the City Council will listen to its citizens and vote, consistent with its prior support over several years, to move forward with this project.

“It will be a beautiful building, befitting the city of Newport Beach and the pride its residents take in it.”

Talks for the library lecture hall date back to 2017. Supporters of the project said the community has long grown out of the multipurpose Friends Room that had been built alongside the library in 1994. In a staff report, the city’s library services department said annual participation in library programming has increased from approximately 28,000 in 2009-10 to over 72,000 in 2018-19.

The project was designed to improve sight lines for visitors and to provide better audiovisual equipment for programming at the library. It will seat up to 299 people.