A new chapter

In 1929, Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Union, Vatican City became an autonomous state, and the city of Newport Beach saw the opening of its first library.

That 77-year-old building still stands on the Balboa Peninsula, with two additions built in the 1950s and ‘60s. Now the library could be headed for replacement or revamping, along with a slew of other city-owned facilities.

A committee appointed Tuesday by the City Council will look at a list of 16 aging facilities and suggest how to pay for renovations and upgrades over the next 20 years.

The library is the oldest city-owned facility, but it’s not yet falling apart -- though old buildings have their drawbacks.

“It’s really done well for its age,” Balboa branch librarian Phyllis Scheffler said. “We’ve had to adapt it with the rise of technology. That’s one of the things -- you go into the rooms and you go, ‘Where’s all the plugs?’ ”

Though the committee will probably prioritize buildings according to how soon they’ll wear out, its work will focus on financing, City Manager Homer Bludau said. A very rough estimate for renovating or replacing the buildings is between $100 million and $200 million, he said.

Other buildings on the list include the 58-year-old Marigold Avenue fire station in Corona del Mar; the Oasis Senior Center, built in 1950; and structures at the Balboa Yacht Basin, which are more than 50 years old.

The top priority is likely to be replacing the City Hall, a five-building complex that serves about 180,000 people a year. In November, council members were poised to vote on a $48-million plan for a civic center, including a new city hall, but questions from residents about the cost and location prompted them to take another look at the project.

A key part of the committee’s job will be looking at how to finance replacement of buildings and development of new parks over the next 20 years. Every method of payment will be on the table -- cash payments, bonds and certificates of participation, Bludau said.

That last method may provoke lively debate on the committee. Unlike revenue bonds, certificates of participation don’t need to be voted on by taxpayers. When certificates were proposed to finance the civic center, a group of residents objected and began circulating a ballot measure that would require a public vote for most large-scale city borrowing.

The council named the ballot measure’s leading proponent, John Buttolph, as one of 11 members on the facilities finance committee. No meeting dates have been set, but the committee must report findings to the council by May 1.

As for the Balboa library, it remains to be seen if it will be razed or upgraded. Either way, library workers want to preserve the atmosphere of the old building, Scheffler said.

“People will miss this, but our goal is to make the new one so warm and inviting that they’ll be fine; they’ll like it.”20060126ito9dfncDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Librarian Phyllis Scheffler looks at the roof of the Balboa library, Newport’s oldest city-owned building. 20060126ito9dyncDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Phyllis Scheffler talks about a picture of the original library building, which was built in 1929.