Corona del Mar Today: Trustees suggest second story for library/fire station
The Newport Beach Board of Library trustees Monday told an architect that they want to consider adding a second story to the new Corona del Mar library branch building.
“What’s wrong with adding a second story?” asked Trustee Eleanor Palk. “It’s packed with little kids. Maybe a second story would be an ideal place for that (story time events).”
Other trustees agreed, saying a second floor could be used as a community room or shared with firefighters.
In March, the Newport Beach City Council approved a contract with WLC Architects to design the combined library and fire station for Corona del Mar.
The project would involve demolishing the existing buildings, which are next to each other on Marigold Avenue, and building one structure with shared common spaces. Preliminary plans called for a one-story library with 2,500 feet — the current facility is 3,750 feet — and a two-story fire station with living quarters on the top floor.
Architect Kelley Needham of WLC Architects brought to Monday’s meeting the latest plans. They call for fire station driveways that would let crews pull their equipment straight into a garage rather than having to back the large trucks off Marigold.
The new plans also include a shared lobby with public restrooms and parking for about 20 to 25 strollers in the library as well as 800 square feet of outdoor space for a reading porch.
The project has been budgeted for $6 million.
Trustee Robyn Grant urged members of the public to reach out to City Council members, perhaps during public comment opportunities at meetings, to express their wishes for funds to build a bigger library.
Not adding the second-story now “seems short-sighted,” Grant said.
Corona del Mar resident and Trustee Jerry King said he had “read concerns since day one about the process.”
“The whole thing’s backwards,” he said.
City officials, he said, should have sought public input and considered design costs before deciding on the project’s budget instead of the other way around.
“That’s a little weird,” he said.
Several members of the public who attended a meeting last week of Friends of the CdM Library also spoke in support of keeping the Corona del Mar branch “cozy and warm” and just as big as it currently is.
The trustees could have taken action, possibly approving the plans, but agreed not to put anything to a vote. It was not immediately known what the next steps would be.
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Boat rescue at Big Corona
A boat was beached at Corona del Mar State Beach, also known as Big Corona, early Monday, but lifeguards and Harbor Patrol officers were able to tow it off the sand.
The boat’s operator said he set autopilot for Newport Harbor on Sunday evening, said Sgt. DJ Haldeman, a watch commander for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Harbor Patrol.
“He came ashore at Big Corona this morning at approximately 3 a.m.,” Haldeman said. “There was no damage to his vessel so he raised his daggerboards and set his anchors. His plan was to wait for higher tide so he could float his vessel off the shoreline.”
Early-morning joggers and walkers saw the boat, however, and called authorities about 7:50 a.m. Harbor Patrol sent two rescue boats to the scene, and Newport Beach lifeguards helped remove the boat and tow it back to the harbor.
There were no pollution concerns and nobody was injured in the incident, Haldeman said.
The boat took on some water because of waves during the rescue, Assistant Lifeguard Chief Rob Williams said.
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City receives 94 sculpture proposals for Civic Center Park
Members of a Newport Beach committee will begin reviewing applications for the second phase of the Sculpture in the Civic Center Park exhibition, a city spokeswoman confirmed.
In April, the city issued a request for applications for the exhibition and set a May 6 deadline. Eighty-one applicants responded with 94 proposed sculptures, spokeswoman Tara Finnigan said in an email.
A City Arts Commission committee will meet privately within a week to select 10 sculptures, along with three alternates, for display in the park along with 10 sculptures chosen last year.
The sculptures will be installed in August with an official unveiling on Sept. 12.
The original 10 sculptures and the new ones will be displayed together for a year, and in September 2016, the original 10 will be removed. The second round will remain until September 2017.
Corona del Mar Today appears Sundays in the Daily Pilot. Read daily updates at coronadelmartoday.com.