The Huntington Beach Central Library, located in Huntington Beach Central Park, was designed by Dion Neutra and opened in 1975.
The library site was selected because of the proximity to Talbert Lake, and the fountains reference the lake and tie into the lake as an infinity pool.
Neutra
The building was designed by the architectural firm of Richard & Dion Neutra. Shortly before the actual signing of the agreement, Richard Neutra passed away while in Europe. Five days after his death, Mrs. Neutra spoke to the Huntington Beach City Council about his plans and “stated that she believed his plans and ideas for the library would be realized through the work of their son Dion Neutra, who will now head the architectural firm.”1 Dion completed the original building on April 5, 1975.
In the mid-1990s, the architectural firm of Anthony & Langford was hired to design a 43,000-square-foot expansion that enclosed the spiral ramp that was previously outside along with the fountains. The new wing opened in 1994 with a children’s area and theater.
The interior is open with different levels and shelving. There are water feature inside that help keep down the noise level as well as being attractive. Architect Dion Neutra stated that, “. . . we came up with the idea of running the water through the interior past a series of pools on several levels to where the sound of water would pervade the premises! In this way I created an ambiance of natural sounds that was high enough to mask normal speech. Children could speak in a reasonable tone without disturbing anyone!2
Fountains
The original architect, Dion Neutra, spoke to the public at the library on 11/10/2015 and indicated fountains were an integral part of the building. The building, including the fountains, is historic on a number of levels, such as age, architectural importance, and so on. The outside fountains were drained in 2016 because of a leak. Then there was a drought so it bad optics to have a water feature. Then it was budgeted to be repaired and filled, but costs went up dramatically after the pandemic. So, instead of this,
it looks like this:
Nevertheless, it is a beautiful library to visit and we’re looking forward to its 50th anniversary next year!
Resources:
City Council Minutes, April 21, 1970
Dion Neutra The Neutras Then and Later (Los Angeles: Triton Publishing, 2012), 115.