Downey Civic Center improvement project completed

Wave Staff Report

DOWNEY — An 18-month improvement project that affected parking at the Downey Civic Theatre, City Hall and police station and closed the city library, has been completed.

Books and materials from several temporary sites are being moved back into the library, but a reopening date hasn’t been set because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a city spokesperson said Jan. 13.

Total cost of the combined civic center projects was just under $6 million, Assistant City Manager John Oskoui said in a report to the council Jan. 12.

The council formally accepted the work by Hoffman Management and Construction Corporation, which began construction in August 2019.

Upgrades to the 738-seat theater, located at 8435 Firestone Blvd. and built in the 1970s, included improvements to the curbside drop off area for the disabled and construction of an access ramp and an exterior elevator to provide access to the second floor of the building.

Crews also modernized the entrance and reconstructed the courtyard and added a concrete hardscape in the plaza area, west of the main entrance, with a fountain and public sculpture garden, Oskoui said.

Cost of that work, including design and management services, was about $2.9 million, he added.

Civic Center work between the library and City Hall including a shade structure for the open air snack bar on the north side of the library, a canopy for all weather use, installation of a monument to firefighters, and the relocation of the veterans memorial in the Theatre Plaza to the civic center area.

Cost of construction for the City Hall/library complex was $653,547.68. Total cost was $750,664.33 including inspection, testing and administration, Oskoui said.

Work at the Police Station included renovation of the men’s and women’s locker and shower rooms with new lockers and improved restroom facilities, Oskoui said.

That work cost about $2.4 million, he added.