On this date in 1929, the Seal Beach City Council awarded the contract for a new city hall to architect W. Horace Austin after considering preliminary plans presented by local architects.
Austin’s plans included a fire station, a police station, a city library, offices for city staff, and a second story assembly room for public meetings. Austin himself would supervise the Spanish style construction as soon at the city closed a deal to purchase the future city hall site.
W. Horace Austin was a prominent architect in the area during the first half of the Twentieth Century, and many of his landmark designs still stand today, including Wilson High School, the Press-Telegram building, the downtown Farmers & Merchants Bank, and the Long Beach Airport.
And, of course, the old Seal Beach City Hall, still located on the corner of Eight Street and Central Avenue today. It was officially opened and dedicated eight and a half months later on October 29th, 1929. City bureaucracy move faster in those days.
– Michael Dobkins
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