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Buena Park’s City services will soon have a new home. A new state-of-the-art City Hall will be built on the southern portion of the Civic Center campus. The new City Hall will replace the current City Hall which was built in 1958. To kick off the construction, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on February 26.

The new City Hall facility has been in planning for over ten years. The project went out to bid in August and the contract was awarded in January.

The new City Hall will be located on a mostly vacant area of the Civic Center campus. One building, which housed the reprographics department was demolished to create room for the new facility. The two employees in the department were relocated into an existing building.

The current City Hall is 21,000 square feet with the City’s departments spread out in seven different buildings. The Council researched the cost of renovating the current City Hall but the cost to bring the existing buildings up to code and in compliance with ADA would have cost close to $3 million and would have allowed for little expansion.

The new 43,000 square foot City Hall will feature a story and a half design and will cost $7.5 million. The new building will feature an open atrium style lobby where residents will be able to conduct their business with all City departments. The building was designed with the resident in mind and will feature resident friendly counters for city transactions. The building will incorporate Mediterranean and mission style elements to reflect the flavor of Buena Park’s historic district.

The new City Hall was designed by John Bates and Associates and will be constructed by KPRS Construction Services, Inc. The project has been funded by the general fund over six years with no impact on resident’s taxes or money borrowed. The construction of the facility will take approximately one year. After construction is completed, there will be a three month move-in and demolishing period. After the old City Hall is vacated it will be demolished and sitework and landscaping completed.