After years of efforts to save Fullerton’s Hunt Branch Library, once a hub of the West Fullerton neighborhood where it is located, the revamped Hunt is days away from reopening.
The 60-year-old building on Basque Avenue, designated a local landmark in 2018 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019, closed as a branch library in 2013 due to various problems, including a lack of funding. But this weekend, a grand reopening and ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, with tours of the renovated space, live entertainment, food trucks and booths providing information about city services and other resources. .
The building, recognizable by its flat roof and glass facade, was designed by architect William Pereira and constructed with a $500,000 donation from the Hunt Foods and Industries Foundation.
Through partnerships with local community groups, including the Fullerton School District, OC United and North Orange County Continuing Education, the renovated facility will offer a variety of community services, said Amanda Arbiso, the city’s parks and recreation manager. city. It will also begin offering some library services again and will be available for rental for events.
City programs for children will include the Little Learners Club, for toddlers ages 3 to 5; Art 24 hours a day; Wonder Wednesdays for children of all ages; and Melody Starters, a four-week program providing beginning music instruction to children.
Weekly exercise, health, wellness and personal development classes will also be offered as well as tutoring for children.
“Through these partnerships, we will be able to offer a variety of different programs to help with the physical and emotional health of our community and we are very excited about all of the different programs,” Arbiso said. “The primary goal of all of our programming is to be free or low cost to our local community. »
Two new gallery spaces are already showcasing exhibitions.
The “Library Cool: Mid Century Design and the Hunt” exhibit features vintage furniture custom-made for Hunt’s official opening in 1962, as well as documentary videos and historic photographs about the building, its architect and its history.
“A Class Action: The People’s Struggle for School Desegregation in California” tells the story of the landmark case, Mendez et al. v. Westminster School District et al., demonstrating how community organizing and grassroots activism have produced positive change in the state’s schools. The case is considered a precursor to the segregation case Brown v. Board of Education, decided by the United States Supreme Court.
Upcoming events planned for the hunt include a Dia del Nino event on April 27, a Cinco de Mayo celebration on May 5, and a Taylor Swift-themed event on August 9.
“Very exciting,” Mayor Nicholas Dunlap said at a recent city council meeting about the activities already planned. “I’m sure my kids are watching and are very excited. They’ve probably already marked the calendar for the Taylor Swift case.
Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, who was on the Fullerton City Council at the time of the branch’s closure, said the library’s closure in 2013 was “devastating to this community that had been silently using it.”
The congresswoman called the Hunt a “hidden gem,” not only because of its architecture, but also because of its location in a “very quiet, gated neighborhood that not many people know about in Fullerton, which is part of the beauty of it “.
In 2019, Hunt received a $2.5 million grant for the state library, then received $2.75 million as part of the 2021-2022 state budget after Quirk-Silva and Senator Josh Newman lobbied for funds.
An ad hoc committee of the Hunt Library solicited proposals for possible uses of Hunt for Literacy, arts and culture programs. After evaluating the proposals, the committee made recommendations to city council on revitalizing the library. In June 2023, the city council unanimously approved plans to revitalize the library.
The estimated cost of operating the library for the next three years is $481,000.
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