Quirk-Silva Celebrates City Council Vote on Hunt Library

On June 3 The office of Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva issued the following press release about the selection of ArtsOC/Heritage Future as the applicants selected by the Fullerton City Council to provide programming and oversee needed renovations to the historic structure. Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva’s securing of $ 2.5 million in state funding is a crucial element in the revival of the Hunt.

City of Fullerton Unanimously Votes to Renovate Hunt Branch Library

Sacramento, CA – Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva’s $2.5 million 2019 budget request that was approved and allocated to the City of Fullerton will be utilized for the renovations of the Hunt Branch Library. The Fullerton City Council unanimously approved the selection panel’s recommendation for the Arts Orange County and Heritage Future.

“I am very proud to have worked with the state to secure $2.5 million for a future renovated Hunt Branch Library. As a classroom teacher, and former City Council Member, I have always prioritized community spaces, literacy, and the arts. I cannot wait to see the Hunt Library open for the public again,” said Assemblywoman Quirk-Silva.

The Hunt Branch Library was designated as a local landmark by the Fullerton City Council in November 2018. The designation is meant both to recognize significant structures in the city and to prevent them from being inappropriately remodeled or destroyed. The Hunt Branch Library was donated to the City of Fullerton by Norton Simon’s Hunt Foods Foundationin 1962. The building received this designation because of its significant style and outstanding design, as well as the importance and influence of its architect, William Pereira.

Arts Orange County’s experience as a non-profit arts advocacy group founded twenty years ago, at a time when such an organization was lacking in Orange County, has established themselves as a contributor to major and most minor arts organizations. Their work with many members of the group that continue to advocate for arts funding and support helps them lead the way for this project. Furthermore, they provide organizational and other services to our community which are vital for this project.

“Having this non-profit organization along with Heritage Future that is dedicated to community building, and providing a diverse neighborhood with creative and cultural opportunities for everyone in the City of Fullerton, I am confident that they will put the $2.5 million in California State Budget Funding to good use in this project,” said Assemblywoman Quirk-Silva.

After years of discussions as to whether the facility should be renovated, the City Council has made a clear direction to the staff and community for how the site could be used and will move forward with the renovation project.

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Community Efforts Lead to Beginning of New Era for Hunt Library

Kevin Staniec and Rick Stein address the Fullerton City Council

The Fullerton City Council unanimously approved the applicant recommended by a review panel to begin engagement with the city about providing programming and renovations to the Hunt Branch Library. A joint proposal by Heritage Future and ArtsOC received the support of all five members of the council, but not before at least two other applicants complained about what they perceived as an opaque selection process. Several speakers representing Access California, who scored third of eight applicants, asked the council to continue the decision to a future meeting. Council member Jesus Silva countered with a concern that the $ 2.5 million state grant secured by Assemlbywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (his wife) for restoration and upgrades to the facility might not be available for an indefinite period, and urged a timely decision by the council.

Council member Ahmad Zahra suggested that the motion to approve Heritage Future/ArtsOC should include a backup selection of runners up, but that effort was ultimately sidelined. Zahra eventually joined the other four members in voting in favor of the winning application without such a provision.

The city will now, according to the agenda report for the June 2 meeting, “begin work with the selected provider to finalize both physical improvements needed at the site in order to utilize a $2.5 million State appropriation secured by Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva and create a partnership agreement outlining the terms of operations and services for the future of providing the priorities as outlined by the Hunt Branch Library Ad Hoc Committee. The agreement will be brought back to the City Council for approval.”

Plans for renovations of the building and grounds merit close scrutiny. We will be following the process to see what the applicant and city have in mind, and work, where necessary, to ensure that any physical work on the building is appropriately conceived and executed.

The council’s approval of a partner to present new programming the facility marks a milestone in the efforts to Save the Hunt, once viewed as a relic whose best use to the city would be to sell it off for a short term financial gain. Instead, the building and site have been removed from the city’s list of surplus properties and have received some measure of historical recognition and protection, a public committee has recommended that the facility remain in public hands for the purpose of arts and literary programming, a partner selected to do just that, and $ 2.5 million secured to address the Hunt’s infrastructural needs. The story continues to unfold, but without the support of community members like yourself, none of these goals could have been achieved.

THIS IS IT! Final Hunt Library Decision This Tuesday, June 2!

Fullerton City Council Meeting: Tuesday, June 2, 6:30pm

Agenda Item # 10 (3^rd major item to be heard)

We need your help Tuesday to let the council know if you agree with the recommendation to engage the winning respondent to the Hunt Request for Proposal (see below for this week’s Observer article). Please also ask that the Library Board of Trustees be allowed to oversee the new project, as the $2.5 million rehabilitation grant requires some type of library connection.

As you know, the mission of Save The Hunt is to keep the Hunt Branch Library in the public realm for community use. We wanted to see something as close to a library use as possible, and are especially concerned that the building itself be preserved without undue additional or insensitive construction.

In-person attendance is now allowed again at City Hall; social distancing and face covering required. Attendee overflow is next door in the Library Conference Room.

You can also call (1), e-mail (2), and/or e-comment (3) the councilmembers:

(1) (714) 738-6311

(2) council@cityoffullerton.com

(3) https://fullerton.legistar.com (click “eComment” on right)

For more info: Hunt@SaveTheHunt.com

or call 714-729-3019

City Releases Request for Proposals for use of Hunt Library

The City of Fullerton has released a Request for Proposals intended to solicit interest in “programming and operations” at the historic Hunt Branch Library. Submission are due no later than 5:00 p.m., ~~Thursday, January 23rd, 2020~~ UPDATE: The city has extended the deadline for receipt of proposals to February 24. Deliver submissions to the City Clerk, City of Fullerton, 303 W. Commonwealth Avenue, Fullerton, California, 92832.

According to the cover of the RFP, the city is looking for a partner to provide “cultural and/or entrepreneurial type services and programming”

According to the RFP, which can be found HERE,:

“Qualified partnership teams must have significant experience and demonstrated ability to develop successful and high quality literacy, educational, cultural and/or entrepreneurial programs. Qualified teams will have experience collaborating with various organizations and managing educational programs and services. The selected partner(s) will be responsible for programming and operations at the Hunt Library building.

The City has secured $2.5 million in funding to assist in the renovation of the interior library building and is prepared to work with the selected partner(s) to create a welcoming and efficient space for literacy, cultural and event programming.”

The timetable described in the RFP is as follows:

“Phase I (February) – Focuses on proposer(s) qualifications, experience, and other factors; and
Phase II (March – April) – Respondent(s) who meet qualifications will be invited for interviews.

Phase III (May) – Finalize recommendation to the City Council.”

California Historical Resources Commission Approves Landmark Nomination for Hunt Center and Library

The interior of the Hunt Library, seen in a report presented to the California Historical Resources Commission on February 1.

The California Historical Resources Commission has approved the California Register landmark nomination for the 1962 Hunt Center and Library. The landmark nomination was one of four nominated properties on the consent calendar of the Commission’s February 1 meeting agenda. The report accompanying the nomination noted that the “district retains a high degree of historic integrity.”

The Hunt Center includes the Hunt office building, the designed landscape, a platform with metal canopy, six modernist benches, and six hexagonal planters. The Hunt Office Building was characterized as exhibiting “all the striking elements of the international style,” including its “rectilinear form and steel structure, glass panels, and repeated modular panels.” The Hunt Office Building and its surrounding grounds are owned by Grace Ministries International, who added a large unrelated structure to the property after purchasing it was Hunt Wesson, Inc. Grace Ministries currently leases the Hunt Library from its owner, the City of Fullerton.

The Hunt Library, conceived as a companion to the Hunt Office Building in style, was described as embodying all the features of a small branch library of the period, designed in the international style, one seldom otherwise used in Fullerton. The nomination also cited the importance of the Hunt Library having been designed by word famous architect William Pereira and commissioned by Norton Simon, a self-made industrialist and art collector.

The nomination was by Fullerton Heritage, who authored an extensive report found on this site.

A view of part of the Hunt Center and Library campus, showing the pavilion and library. Photo by world famous architectural photographer Julius Shulman.

Hunt Branch Library Designated Local Landmark by Fullerton City Council

The Hunt Branch Library has been added to Fullerton’s list of Local Landmarks.

On November 20 the Fullerton City Council officially added the Hunt Branch Library located at 201 S. Basque Ave., to the list of the city’s Local Landmarks. The designation is meant both to recognize significant structures in the city and to prevent them from being inappropriately remodeled or destroyed. The addition to the list was unanimously recommended by the six members of Fullerton’s Planning Commission present for their October 24 meeting.

According to the staff report given by the Community Development Department’s Joan Wolff, “This designation is given to a building, structure or natural or manmade feature having a historic character or historic, cultural, architectural or aesthetic value with respect to the heritage of Fullerton, which merits preservation, restoration and/or protection.”

The report cited three of the ten criteria under which buildings can be designated Local Landmarks, including its significant style and outstanding design, as well as the importance and influence of its architect William Pereira. The presentation included images of the library dating to 1963, just a year after it opened, along contemporary views, noting that the building looked very much the same as it did over half a century ago. Ms. Wolff described the Hunt’s style as International, although its roofline incorporates elements of the more Brutalist style employed by Pereira in his later works, some of which, like San Francisco’s Transamerica building and UC San Diego’s Geisel Library were also shown in the presentation.

The City of Fullerton owns the Hunt Branch Library and surrounding grounds, although the building is currently leased out to Grace Ministries International (GMI), who, in 2000 purchased the adjacent property that once served as the headquarters of Hunt Wesson/ConAgra. The library’s architecture echoes that of the GMI-owned four story office building, also designed by William Pereira. Together, the two structures and the surrounding park were conceived as a unified campus by Mr. Pereira and his client, Norton Simon, although GMI has since added other large buildings to it. Norton Simon commissioned the Hunt Branch as gift to the city in 1962, but the Fullerton City Council has not to allocated the necessary funds to operate it as a library branch since 2013.

No members of the council had any questions for Ms. Wolff. Public comments began with Bob Linnell, representing Fullerton Heritage, who had submitted the lengthy, well-researched application to the city. Mr. Linnell thanked the staff for the presentation and noted that Fullerton Heritage has also submitted an application to California’s State Historical Resources Commission “requesting that the Hunt Library and the former Hunt Administration Building and the surrounding campus be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.” The application is expected to be heard by the state panel in February next year, and the state’s recommendation passed to the federal government in early summer for a final decision. Noting that a Landmark status adopted by the city was important to the National Register decision, he nonetheless observed that it would be Fullerton’s Local Landmark designation itself that would “better protect the building from any future threat of demolition or mistreatment or some compromise of the building’s architecture.”

Jane Reifer expressed the community group Save The Hunt’s support for listing the property as a Landmark, and thanked Fullerton Heritage for their years-long effort to that end. Fullerton Heritage’s application to the National Register includes all of the original Hunt Library and Office Building campus, but City Council changes to the Local Landmark process made within the last two years now make it more difficult to list privately held properties without the cooperation of owners, so only the city-owned Hunt Library was included in the local application.

Councilmember Greg Sebourn called it “an honor” to move the item. Mayor Chaffee, who has in the recent past supported selling the building, called the Hunt an “architectural gem” before voting along with the other four members of the council to unanimously designate it as Fullerton’s most recent addition to its list of Local Landmarks.

Proposed Hunt Library Local Landmark Designation on City Council Agenda Nov. 20

On the Fullerton City Council agenda, Tuesday, November 20 is the proposed designation of the Hunt Branch Library as a Fullerton Local Landmark. As noted in the staff report:

“The Planning Commission reviewed the application at a noticed public hearing held on October 24, 2018. Following a presentation from staff, remarks by Fullerton Heritage as the project applicant and public comments, the six members of the Planning Commission present (Pendergraft absent) unanimously recommended approval for designation of the property as a Local Historical Landmark.”

Readers are encouraged the attend the meeting, to be held at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, to urge the council to follow the Planning Commission’s recommendation to designate the property as a Local Landmark.

The applications by Fullerton Heritage for both Local Landmark status and inclusion on the National Registry of Historic Places can be found on this site at this link: https://savethehunt.com/fullerton-heritages-local-landmark-and-national-register-applications/

Hunt Library Before Landmarks Commission Wednesday, October 24

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The Hunt Branch Library is on the agenda of the Planning Commission, who also act as Fullerton’s Landmarks Commission Wednesday evening, October 24 at City Hall. The meeting will take place in the City Council chambers, 303 West Commonwealth Avenue, beginning at 7:00 p.m. It is the third item on the Commission’s agenda.

Local preservationist group Fullerton Heritage, have written an extraordinarily complete application found at this link on this website:

https://wordpress.com/post/savethehunt.com/229

For reference, the Fullerton Municipal Code is cited in the staff report for the item. It reads, in part:

“15.48.060. Criteria for designation.

A. In considering a request for a “Historical Landmark” designation, the following criteria shall be used in determining eligibility:

1. Character, interest or value as part of the heritage of the city.

2. Location as a site of a historic event.

3. Identification with a person or persons or groups who significantly contributed to the culture and development of the city.

4. Exemplification of a particular architectural style or way of life important to the city.

5. Exemplification of the best remaining architectural types in an area.

6. Identification as the work of a person or persons whose work has influenced the heritage of the city, the state of California or the United States.

7. Embodiment of elements of outstanding attention to architectural design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship.

8. Relationship to other landmarks, where the preservation of one has a bearing on the preservation of another.

9. A unique location or singular physical characteristic representing an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood.

10. Integrity as a natural environment that strongly contributes to the well being of the people of the city.

B. In considering a request for a “Landmark District” designation, support of the designation should be demonstrated by a substantial majority of the property owners within the boundary of the proposed district.

(Ord. 2982, 2001).“

The Hunt Branch Library, designed by a world famous architect who had a profound impact on the development of California in the last century, commissioned by an industrialist/philanthropist whose business was a significant employer in our city for over half a century, is a strong candidate for Landmark status. Please be sure to attend the meeting to support protection for this irreplaceable and unique structure Wednesday night.

Final Library Ad Hoc Committee Meeting Wednesday, Oct. 10, 5:30 p.m. the Muckenthaler Cultural Center

The Library Ad-Hoc Committee will have its fourth and last meeting on Wednesday, October 10, , 1201 W. Malvern Ave. (park in the main lot at the top of the hill). The Committee is expected to draft a recommendation to the City Council regarding the possible uses for the Hunt Library. The agenda for the meeting can be found at this link: October 10 Library Ad Hoc Agenda

The Landmarks Commission hearing for the Hunt Library, that we originally expected for the same evening, has been postponed, so you can attend the Ad-Hoc at the Muckenthaler instead. We will alert you when the Landmark hearing is eventually scheduled.

Public Attend Hunt Tour and Presentation About William Pereira by Preservationist Alan Hess

DSCF7344 — Alan Hess leads members of the public around the Hunt Branch Library. Photo by Damion Lloyd.

Over a hundred people turned out Monday night, Sept. 24 to hear renowned architect and historian Alan Hess lead tours through Fullerton’s Hunt Branch Library before his evening presentation about the building and its architect next door at Pacific Drive Elementary School. The free program was organized by SaveTheHunt, a community group dedicated to keeping the currently closed library in public hands. The library is normally closed to visitors because the building and grounds are leased to neighboring Grace Ministries International (GMI), but access was arranged through the Fullerton Public Library. The large number of attendees necessitated two successive tours led by Mr. Hess, who spoke about the structure’s integration of indoor and outdoor spaces and other mid-century modernist design strategies employed by the library’s architect William Pereira.

Mr. Hess is a co-founder of Preserve OC a non-profit dedicated to preserving Orange County’s architectural and cultural heritage. He is the author of more than twenty architecture books, the latest entitled The Ranch House, copies of which he later signed for the public.

The program continued next door in Pacific Drive’s Multipurpose Room, where SaveTheHunt organizer Jane Reifer welcomed the audience to the presentation. Following brief remarks about the history of the Hunt Branch, Fullerton Public Library Director Judy Booth spoke about the Library Ad Hoc Committee, of which she is an ex-officio member, charged with formulating a recommendation for the facility’s ultimate use to Fullerton’s City Council. (The Ad Hoc meets next at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center on October 10 at 5:30 p.m.).

Alan Hess Hunt Program — Alan Hess shows images of details of the Hunt Branch Library, Headquarters building next door, and a bench on the campus.

The presentation by Alan Hess traced the varied career of William Pereira from architecture school days in Illinois to Hollywood, where he became an art director who won an Oscar for Best Special Effects in the early 1940’s. Eventually returning to architecture, Pereira formed a partnership with classmate Charles Luckman. Mr. Hess noted that the team’s landmark 1953 CBS Television City in Los Angeles was the first studio designed specifically for television production, and, thanks to good planning, is still operation today. The prolific team also designed the original Disneyland Hotel and the iconic “Theme Building” in the center of Los Angeles International Airport.

Later, Pereira’s own firm designed San Francisco’s Transamerica Tower and the original buildings of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Mr. Hess emphasized that good planning and individual architectural character were the keys to Pereira’s success in designing not only buildings, but entire campuses, like the University of California, Irvine, and the master plan for the City of Irvine itself. He cautioned that, although Pereira’s 1973 wing of the L.A. Times complex just received Landmark status, many of William Pereira’s buildings have been lost, and that the LACMA buildings are threatened by that museum’s new master plan. Mr. Hess stressed the importance of protecting buildings like the former Hunt headquarters building, now own outright by GMI, and its companion Hunt Branch Library both as important local structures and internationally significant buildings to serve future generations.

DSCF7327 — Members of the public gather for the tour. Photo by Damion Lloyd.