TONY DODERO

When the Daily Pilot decided last month to write an editorial in

favor of building a $12 million cultural arts center on a chunk of land

adjacent to the Newport Beach Central Library, we quickly called the idea

“nothing short of fabulous.”

But Lucille Kuehn, who has put precious time and money toward building

a central library worthy of Newport Beach, had a different thought after

reading our editorial.

“I was absolutely aghast,” she said.

Now let’s get something straight here. Lucille Kuehn is not the

ideological equal of those who would quickly dismiss the idea of a

cultural arts center.

As a matter of fact, ever since she migrated here from Pasadena in

1957, Kuehn has fought long and hard to put arts, culture and libraries,

of course, on par with other city priorities. So much so, that when she

ran for and won a City Council seat in 1974, Kuehn’s main platform was

her vision of a new library system for the town.

So, why would she bristle at the idea of a cultural arts center on

that plot of land?

First, Kuehn believes that the Newport Beach Library Board of

Trustees, the group that is pondering the idea of the 22,000-square-foot

edifice, complete with a public art gallery, classrooms, meeting rooms

and a 400-seat auditorium, has far overstepped the boundaries of its

mandate within the city charter.

That charter, she says, clearly states that the board deal ONLY with

issues pertaining to the library.

But that’s not Kuehn’s only concern.

* Would the $12 million needed for the center, no paltry sum that, be

worth the price?

* Wouldn’t the arts center compete with the Orange County Museum of

Art, which is only blocks away?

* Is the land underneath the library and the adjacent site, which sits

atop a pool of ground water according to Kuehn, stable enough to support

more buildings?

* Can’t the facilities at the current library be restructured to

accomplish much the same thing?

* And finally, if the cultural arts center was placed in private

hands, as the library board is now thinking about doing, wouldn’t that be

a violation of the Irvine Co’s original public-use agreement with the

city when it handed over the deed?

Kuehn is pretty positive that it would.

Kuehn doesn’t take issue with the opinion of the editorial as much as

she does the idea that it was based on what she believes has been faulty

reporting leaving unanswered questions.

Indeed, the editorial, which ran within a week of three consecutive

stories on the proposal, didn’t even mention Kuehn’s concerns, although

at least one of our stories contained two paragraphs about her opinion of

the charter.

In our editorial, we brushed over the cost, once again $12 million,

and said any public funding of the project would be “an ideal use of

taxpayers’ dollars.” As opposed to what, we didn’t say.

“When you do sloppy reporting without researching the history, you’re

going to get peculiar outcomes,” Kuehn reminds us.

In closing, I’m not saying the Daily Pilot wouldn’t support a cultural

arts center at that location.

In fact, it’s quite possible we would. But I think our editorial may

have been a bit premature. Before we take a stand in favor of such a

colossal undertaking, we definitely need more facts.

Stay tuned as we dig them up.

* TONY DODERO is the editor of the Daily Pilot. Second Thoughts, which

gives readers a chance for rebuttals and glimpses into the story behind

the story, appears each Monday. Suggestions are welcome by either phone

949-574-4258, fax 949-646-4170, e-mail o7 [email protected] or U.S.

mail 330 W. Bay St. Costa Mesa, 92627.