Huntington Beach : Studying of Historical Buildings About to Start

The historical search in downtown Huntington Beach is about to begin.

Thirtieth Street Architects, a Newport Beach firm hired to assist volunteers in studying old buildings, will be on hand at the Huntington Beach Heritage Core Committee’s open house Wednesday to explain how the buildings will be studied and catalogued.

Buildings dating back at least 40 years will be studied to determine the most historically significant sites, said Arline Howard, chairman of the committee. Howard estimated that the study will include some 500 to 2,000 buildings bounded by Lake, Goldenwest and Clay streets, and Pacific Coast Highway.

Last July, members of the Huntington Beach Historical Society and Antiquities Commission convinced the City Council that a historical study should be conducted before redevelopment projects planned for the downtown area begin.

At that time, the council allotted $15,000 in redevelopment agency funds to hire an architectural firm to coordinate the study, scheduled to be completed by the end of June.

The open house Wednesday will be from 5-7 p.m. at the library annex, 525 Main St. Howard said the committee also hopes the open house will encourage more volunteers to help with the study.