Buidling History

City officials performed a cornerstone laying ceremony, using Masonic rites, on 05/24/1899. This first, two-floor building occupied a site in Pacific Park, later renamed Lincoln Park, and was finished in a rapid five months. Because of the city's rapid growth during the first two decades of the twentieth century, Long Beach's city governmental bureaucracy also expanded, outstripping space in the compact building. By 1913, a bond issue asking city voters for $200,000 to erect a more capacious new building was sought, a measure that was viewed as excessive, caused it to fail. Six years later, another bond issue for $400,000 passed, although shortages of building materials in the wake of World War I, stimulated great inflation in Southern California's construction industry. By 1922, expenses for building materials and labor had risen again by 50% to $600,000. This new building was completed in 1923, next door to the first city hall. (See Tim Grobaty, Long Beach Press-Telegram.com, "The history behind Long Beach’s ever-promising City Halls," published 11/23/2013, accessed 12/31/2019.)

PCAD id: 23262