With a vision of relocating the city’s police station closer to other city departments, Newport Beach officials are now considering using about half of the 14-acre Civic Center Park, a public green space with sculptures and a short walking trail, as a potential site.
The city is also considering bringing Fire Station 3 closer to the civic center, using the property where the Orange County Transportation Authority has its transport hub near MacArthur Boulevard and Newport Center Drive. It is in discussions with the agency to move its hub closer to the airport.
In 2022, the city purchased for $30.5 million a nearly 4-acre property on Dove Street for a new police headquarters. At the time, city officials said it would have space to accommodate a 73,000-square-foot headquarters with a firearms training and shooting center. Construction and design would be $150 million.
But a council ad hoc committee made up of Councilmembers Noah Blom, Michelle Barto and Sara Weber has agreed with a city-hired consultant that the property, which is near the airport, might be too far away.
“When we started looking around here (at the Civic Center), I thought it was amazing,” Blom said during a recent council planning session.
“Build out the Civic Center with the fire station on top, running through the passive park areas down to the police station, then City Hall, the library, and the lecture hall; it feels like downtown Newport,” he said. “I fully understand it’s a huge cost, but I have full support behind it.”
Other areas around the Civic Center were also considered, but many of the properties are privately owned, which is cost-prohibitive, Director of Public Works Dave Webb said.
Building at the Civic Center would cost about $162 million, Webb said.
The council appeared supportive of moving forward with more exploration.
If the city doesn’t use the Dove Street building that was purchased for the police station it could be used for another city need or sold, Jurgis said. “We’re not doing anything with it until we decide.”
Blom noted the building’s value has likely “increased with everything we’re envisioning in the airport district,” where multiple housing projects are planned.
City Manager Seimone Jurgis said next steps include doing more design work with the consultant to explore what a building at the park could look like and what other considerations, such as environmental factors, height and ingress and egress, could play a role.
“We think it fits, and we wanted to daylight it with the City Council to get their feedback,” Jurgis said. “Is it the right idea to build it where the park is at? There is still a lot of work to do.”
Once the consultant has refined a design and addressed the contributing factors, Jurgis said the council will discuss the idea again and the community will also be able to weigh.
If there is council and community buy-in and the idea makes sense, Jurgis said construction on the new facility could start in 2029. And he said that if the plans move forward, the sculptures currently at the park would be relocated.
The station on Santa Barbara Drive used by the Police Department, which has 232 employees, of whom 148 are sworn, is becoming worn and in need of upgrades, Jurgis said. “We need to build a bigger police station.”