New City Hall Ready For Tuesday's Opening

Diamond Bar now has a City Hall to call its own.

After 11 years of leasing office space from the AQMD, City Hall relocated to 21810 Copley Drive over the course of Thursday and Friday. Movers brought over files, computers, furniture, and everything else that made the cut, while workers completed last minute finishing touches both inside and outside the building.

The city planned the logistics of the move for one year.

“It’s a team effort,” said Dave Doyle, assistant city manager. “Every single staff member has taken part. Having a lot of lead time helped.”

The new City Hall is in a 12-year-old building that was once an Allstate call center. City offices will be located upstairs, spanning 27,000 square feet, while the still-under-construction Diamond Bar Public Library will take up 24,000 square feet downstairs. Also downstairs is a community room, which will be used for events both by the city and library, and will be the meeting place for the Planning, Parks and Recreation, and Traffic and Transportation Commissions. A computer room will also be set up, where classes that are currently offered at the Diamond Bar Center will be held. 

“It’s quite a bit larger and a lot more functional,” said Marsha Roa, public information manager, of the new City Hall.

According to City Manager Jim DeStefano, it took about half a dozen plans to arrive at the final floor plan. The layout is broken up into four quadrants, with all having room for growth. Most offices have sweeping views of the mountains or the hills behind the building.

“We wanted to create an open and inviting space for the public to come to,” DeStefano said. “It used to be darker; there were no skylights or glass doors. It had a more corporate office look.”

The counter where various services will be provided is lower to the ground, so that residents who come in aren’t looked down on by employees.

“The way we interact with the public is different,” DeStefano said. “We don’t care for high counters. We want you to sit and have a conversation with us.” 

One big difference between the two City Hall facilities is that the new one is equipped with a dedicated EOC (emergency operations center) room. It is also large enough to hold an all staff meeting.

“It is functional and we can be ready to come in and start,” DeStefano said.

The city purchased the building and property for $9.9 million, with the renovation costing $3.9 million. The renovation included changes to both floors and the parking lot, exterior work, and fixtures.

“It was an excellent investment on the city’s part,” said Mayor Ling-Ling Chang. “It was a buyer’s market. With fiscal conservatism over the years, the city was able to have enough reserves. This was perfect, and we will have two services in one building for a phenomenal price.”

The building will also cost a little less to run, as there will be green elements. While the library will have LEED Silver certification, the city’s area will not.

“We applied as many as we could,” DeStefano said. “The light fixtures were done to reduce energy costs, and the bathrooms were updated.”

Cabinets were donated to Habitat for Humanity for repurposing, and other materials were salvaged.

“They were either donated or repurposed or disposed of responsibly,” Roa said. 

For Chang, who became mayor earlier in December and is the first council member to have grown up in Diamond Bar, seeing the new City Hall almost completely finished was a fun experience.

“I think it’s fabulous,” she said. “I am really excited, and really looking forward to January 3.”

The new City Hall will open its doors to the public at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 3.