The Westminster City Council wants to move forward with the development of a historic archway for the city’s Little Saigon district, which has been in the works since 2023. The decision comes even as funding for the project remains unclear.
The city said it has worked with the county for nearly three years to advance the archway project, which is modeled after those seen in San Diego’s Little Italy and historic Chinatown’s nationwide.
This week, the City Council formed an ad-hoc committee with Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen and Councilmember Carlos Manzo that will select a consultant for the archway’s design and development.
But at the meeting earlier in August, councilmembers had discussed a letter from the Orange County Counsel’s Office requesting the return of $1 million previously allocated to the city by former First District County Supervisor Andrew Do.
In June 2023, Do had made the contribution from his district discretionary funds to erect an archway at the southern entrance to Little Saigon, on Bolsa Avenue, and an additional $500,000 for the project’s artwork. But by November 2023, planning came to a halt after the proposed design cost reached nearly $2 million.
The cost had been “grossly underestimated,” according to officials, and Do’s office requested the $1 million contribution be returned after the city said it could not contribute its own funding.
The county reiterated the request for the funding to be returned in its most recent Aug. 4 letter.
“We (were) actually in the process of going through selecting the designer and architect so we can proceed with the project. All of a sudden, we received the letter from the county asking for $1 million back,” Nguyen said in an interview Thursday. “I can tell you, the project is still moving forward.”
When asked to clarify whether funds for the project would still come from the county, Nguyen said he was not at liberty to discuss an action item from closed session.
Manzo confirmed the county did request the money back, but said he “strongly feels” the situation should be handled internally, between the Westminster council and current First District County Supervisor Janet Nguyen.
“I think it’s wrong to hash it out in public,” Manzo said in an interview Friday.
Supervisor Nguyen said she has always supported the archway idea.
“I think it’s really unique to be able to market the area of your city and show not only pride but bring tourism,” she said.
But she also supports the county staff asking for the funding to be returned, she said. “And we’ll re-evaluate all the projects and all the requests. And we’re going to be asking questions, like where is the city gonna come up with the other money? Where is the (request for proposal)?”
Manzo said Westminster leaders would still like to do an archway and felt that the ad-hoc committee was the best way to move the project forward.
“At this time we don’t have the funding,” Manzo said, “and it’s unknown where the funding will come from.”