A $23.5 million lecture hall expected to bring notable authors, journalists and scientists to Newport Beach will advance with groundbreaking expected as soon as next month.
The City Council on Tuesday, Jan. 9, voted 4-3 to move forward with a new agreement between the city and the Newport Beach Library Foundation, in which each entity is expected to provide $11.7 million toward construction.
The new agreement also includes a measure to limit cost increases by preventing the foundation from making any enhancements to the ongoing project until it has paid the city the full $11.7 million. And it changes the priority use of the hall.
Where originally the use was to be governed by the Board of Library Trustees, the latest version of the agreement now gives 50 days a year to the foundation for events, and the remainder of the scheduling goes to the city. The foundation will also pay up to $700 per event.
Already set to be named Witte Hall – in honor of a $4 million donation commitment from longtime supporters Bill Witte and Kaiko Sakamoto for its construction – the 10,000-square-foot hall could break ground as early as the end of February, said Jerold Kappel, CEO of the library’s foundation.
If all stays on schedule, the lecture hall at the library could be open by 2026.
Discussion during Tuesday night’s council meeting included concern over the continued rising cost of the hall – in 2021, the estimate was $13 million.
The council majority said the lecture hall would be a valuable addition to the Civic Center, which also features an extensive sculpture garden.
“I really like building infrastructure projects; it’s everything a community should do,” Councilmember Noah Blom said. “This is our civic center and turning it into a cultural piece is very important, whether I attend a lecture series or not.”
Blom, who was part of an ad-hoc committee that worked through the new agreement with the foundation, added that the city has a surplus, which makes paying for the hall affordable.
“We have a surplus because we keep making money in this city,” he said. “It keeps growing because the desire to live here keeps growing. We should be constantly reinvesting in pieces of this city.”
Councilmember Brad Avery agreed the lecture hall would anchor the city’s civic center.
“I think it’s spectacular,” he said. “I’ve lived here since 1969; the only thing that’s like it was is the harbor. This city’s not about history, it’s about the vision forward. It’s about making it better all the time. As citizens, we deserve to have a lecture hall where people can learn about the world.”
Mayor Will O’Neill reminded the council the money the city will give toward the project takes money away from other things that could benefit more residents.
“At some point, project costs get too large,” he said, reminding the council that the city’s ceiling on the project had previously been $6.5 million.
He counted off items the city is facing in the future, such as increasing labor costs for police, fire and city employees, homeless issues, short-term lodging complaints, and a myriad of neighborhood improvements that are typically helped by surplus funds.
“This didn’t go out on a community survey,” he also said, adding that nearly 200 emails were sent to the city in the last days with many opposing city spending for the hall. “(If) this cuts into priorities and services for infrastructure that matter to residents that we represent, which it absolutely does, then you’ve got to vote no.”
Kappel said he and the foundation will now embark on a new capital campaign to raise the remaining $4 million to $5 million needed for its contribution, which is expected to take about two years. The foundation already has commitments for at least $8.2 million.
The foundation is expected to put $7.1 million into escrow by Jan. 29 per the new agreement with the city.
He said the foundation made some concessions with the new agreement, which includes a usage fee of up to $700 per event.
“That is within our budget,” he said, adding that initial wording in the agreement would have seen the foundation paying up to $4,000 a year.
“This is a cultural center that people need,” he said. “Right now, people go to the Barclay or Segerstrom. It will create a new energy and the return on investment is significant.”
The new facility will feature carpet made from recycled fishing nets and have comfortable seating, he said. The Witte Lectures Series is currently held in the library’s Friends Room, which is not ADA-compliant and has hard plastic chairs, he added.
“The new hall will be totally ADA compliant; there will be an elevator for wheelchairs and hearing technology throughout,” Kappel said. “The big screen’s brightness means everybody will see it. What we have now in the Friends Room is not fully ADA accessible.”
