For Newport Beach’s consideration

City officials release a rendering of new designs for the proposed city hall. A vote on the project is scheduled for Nov. 22.Forget that boxy, uninspiring design for a city hall that one Newport Beach resident described as “an ugly industrial warehouse.”

The city’s got a new set of renderings for the proposed $23.5-million building, and it’s more environmentally friendly and arguably better looking.

The city hall is part of a $48-million civic center package that also includes a parking structure and a new fire station. The council is expected to vote Nov. 22 on whether to go ahead with the project and finance it with certificates of participation, which don’t need the public vote that’s required to issue bonds.

The new design includes many of the features the old one had -- the wave-like wall fronting Newport Boulevard, the triangular skylights designed to look like sails. But a number of elements have been tweaked by the council’s building committee.

“There have been some substantial design changes” such as the addition of a bowsprit on the roof, towers at two entrances, a fountain at the corner of Newport Boulevard and 32nd Street, and a larger outdoor plaza between the parking structure and the city hall, said Roger Torriero of Griffin Structures, the consultant that’s spearheaded the design process for the city.

Buildings were repositioned on the site, public spaces were expanded, and the council last month heard a report on a host of ways the building might qualify as environmentally friendly.

Solar panels on the top level of the parking structure would provide power, the sail skylights provide light, and through various measures, the building could use 30% to 40% less water than a typical office building.

“All I can say is that it reflects the direction -- the design direction and instructions -- given to us by council and by the council building committee. The rest is subjective,” Torriero said. “Architecture is subjective.”

The new design isn’t winning raves from everyone, but it’s apparently on the right track.

“It looks better than it did,” said Councilman Ed Selich, who was recently appointed to the building committee. “I still think it needs some work myself.”

Some residents have criticized the design, and Selich thinks the earlier, “industrial-looking” renderings were part of the problem.

“I think there’s some feeling that if there’s a more realistic portrayal of what the building was going to look like, it might soften some of the more negative comments,” he said.

Councilman Tod Ridgeway, a proponent of a new city hall from the start, said the drawings are how the community will perceive the building.

People may not see the subtleties of all the changes right away, he said -- instead, “their impression will be off of that rendering.”

But fancy new drawings may not help Ridgeway as he tries to convince his colleagues to go ahead with the project. While everyone seems to agree Newport Beach needs new city hall facilities, Mayor John Heffernan and Councilman Dick Nichols have questioned the city hall’s location, and some community members have demanded a public vote because the expenditure is so large.

And it’s unclear whether the drawings will provoke any interest in the community. They were revealed -- with no fanfare -- at a Wednesday meeting of community group Speak Up Newport.

“They asked other questions about financing and can we afford it,” Selich said. “I was really surprised. I thought we’d get some kind of reaction, positive, negative, but it just didn’t seem to stir anyone either way.”20051111iprl0gkn(LA)WHAT DO YOU THINK? Newport Beach has released a new design, above, for its proposed city hall. What do you think of the changes? Call our Readers Hotline at (714) 966-4664 or send e-mail to [email protected]. Please spell your name and tell us your hometown and phone numbers for verification purposes.