Hermosa Beach: New city yard, reimagined civic center proposed by advisory group

by Laura Garber

A reimagined Civic Center at the public storage lot, a renovated and expanded facility building, or a hybrid of the two (a new police station and current City Hall renovation) was proposed by the Civic Facilities Advisory Group before Hermosa Beach’s City Council on July 22. 

Over the past eight months, the advisory group; made up of public policy experts, engineers, architects and community leaders, toured city facilities and reviewed studies to better understand the future of Hermosa Beach’s civic center. 

The group was unanimous in advocating replacement of the city yard. 

Advisory Group member Rick Koening delivered the report to the council.

But with a $20 million dollar estimate for the city yard, and a projected $4 million deficit in 2030, new facilities present a fiscal challenge. 

“We believe any major renovation or new construction is unlikely to proceed until the yard is completed—a timeline that could extend several years,” the report stated. “The City will likely need to take a “one big project at a time” approach.” 

The group advises using the city-owned public storage site on 11th Place as a temporary public works yard during construction of the new city yard. 

“After the city yard, we view the Police Department as the most severely challenged facility,” the group wrote in their report. 

Group Advisory member Eric Horne shared the group’s consensus that the Police Department and City Hall facilities have pressing challenges. “One of the most alarming issues is the lack of privacy in the Police Department’s waiting area, where victims can inadvertently come into contact with suspects being released from jail,” the report states. “This is not just a design flaw—it is a direct threat to the wellbeing of our most vulnerable residents.” 

The report states, “City Hall is crowded and in many ways inefficient for modern city operations.” The outdated layouts dissuade cross-department collaborations and the small waiting rooms create “an unprofessional and uncomfortable experience for the public.”

The group narrowed down six facility options to two, using past studies including the Fullerton Consulting’s analysis, the 2016 McGrath study, and the 2015 Facilities Needs Assessment. 

The report’s first option suggests renovating and modestly expanding the existing facilities. This approach estimates the facility’s lifespan could be extended by approximately 40 years and be more cost-effective than constructing a new Civic Center.

Option 2 proposes an entirely new facility, encompassing City Hall, a Police Department, and potentially the Hermosa Public Library. Its advantages are greater efficiency, attractiveness, and comfort for both staff and the public. An alternative hybrid approach suggests building only a new police department and renovating the existing City Hall.

Fullerton Consulting provided estimates for a new Civic Center facility. These estimates, which do not include the library, are projected to be $66,727,500. “I want to be very clear, these are low-fidelity numbers. They should not be used to make any sort of decisions on the merits of these options,” Horne advised Council. 

Interim City Manager Steve Napolitano agreed the city yard is the highest priority. He said it offered the opportunity to prove to the community “that we can take these things on, get them on time and on budget.” 

Public works commissioner David Grethen suggested broadening the project to include an emergency operations center.

Resident Laura Pena, thanked the advisory group for their research but she shared concerns about the advisory group’s closed meetings. “There is no clear data showing how well the group reflects the full range of the community voices,” Pena said on a call during public comments. “As I understand now, that was never their mandate or intention. My question is why?” 

Pena proposed more community engagement, utilizing mobile pop-ups to gather community input. ER