City Hall Park

Soon after Brea was incorporated in 1917, city leaders planned a public park for all residents, and City Hall Park opened in 1930 as the town's gathering place and the center of recreation and government. Bordering Brea's first homes, built by the Union Oil Company for oilfield workers, and the main thoroughfare now known as Brea Boulevard, it included city government offices, community organizations, and a swimming pool. In 1984, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Brea's first landmark designated for preservation. City Hall, begun in 1928, originally housed the entire city government, including the police and fire stations, city library, courtroom and jail, as well as the Chamber of Commerce and community meetings, making it the first combined city government building in Orange County. Designed by Los Angeles architect Allen Ruott, who also created the park's overall plan, the building blended Mission/Spanish Revival and Art Deco styles. After city government moved to the Civic & Cultural Center in 1980, the building was refurbished and became the Brea Lions Scout Center. The Plunge, a 25 meter pool whose construction also began in 1928, opened in 1930 as Orange County's first outdoor public pool and remains one of Southern California's oldest public swimming pools still in use; renovations in 1990 and 2008 helped ensure its continued service. Brea's first American Legion Hall was built in 1922 by American Legion Post 181 and replaced in 1931; it served the post, the Brea Women's Club, and other groups, provided emergency housing after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, later housed the police department and jail beginning in 1970, and today contains the Brea Museum and Heritage Center operated by the Brea Historical Society. Over the years, the park has served generations of residents as a site for banquets, graduations, political speeches, church services, emergency shelter, concerts, pancake breakfasts, and the July Fourth Country Fair.

Brea, California · United States