Lecture hall process begins

  • 2019-08-11
The idea of a lecture hall adjacent to the Newport Beach library took its first steps toward reality.

The Library Lecture Hall Design Committee had its inaugural meeting recently. The first thing Diane Dixon, the mayor of Newport Beach, did was to appoint Jill Johnson-Tucker and Janet Ray, respectively, as chair and vice-chair of the committee. Johnson-Tucker described the session as a “round table discussion” rather than a formal meeting, likening it to a teacher passing out the syllabus on the first day of class.

The committee is so new that it immediately scheduled two more meetings and agreed they should review the responses that have been received to the city's Request for Proposals (RFP) on the project, and discuss them, before ranking the proposals in order. Peter Tauscher, the senior civil engineer on the project, called approval of the winning RFP a “qualifications-based process.” He added that the project construction timeline of 36 months is realistic, including a year for building the hall.
Brochure printing can be used to create pamphlets illustrating the amenities of venues like this.

The proposed design is for a state-of-the-art auditorium that could seat 275, with room for folding chairs to be set up. Amenities would include a small lobby, restrooms, and a green room. Events are currently held in the library's Friends Room, which seats about 187. Attendance at library-sponsored events was almost 70,000 in 2018, indicating the need for a new, large, separate facility.