CIVIC CENTER PROJECT

Building Community, Building Opportunity.

The Civic Center serves as Lake Forest's 100-Year Home and is the civic heart and social center of the City. Inspired by the vision and feedback from the community and incorporating the surrounding natural beauty of Lake Forest, the Civic Center offers a new place for people to conduct business and enjoy community activities.

The Civic Center opened in fall 2019, the Civic Center is 12.5 acres and a place where the public can enjoy classes at the Community Center, spend time with their friends at the Senior Center, or take in a play at the Performing Arts Center. It includes public facilities that addresses several of the community's unmet needs while providing an inviting and welcoming public space for everyone.

Civic Center Planning Principles

Reflect Lake Forest. Emphasize the pastoral landscape, natural topography, and unique history that set Lake Forest apart from its neighbors.
Be a destination. Develop the Civic Center complex as a destination through site location, architecture, and landscaping.
Provide new amenities. Prioritize services at the Civic Center currently unavailable to the community.
Accommodate multiple uses. Design the Civic Center buildings and amenities to accommodate multiple uses whenever possible.

Project Updates

The Civic Center opened late November/early December.

On January 10, 2019, Lake Forest officials gathered for the Topping Out ceremony for the Civic Center complex, a celebration when the last piece of steel is placed on a project. City officials, staff and workers signed the beam before it was hoisted into the rafters of what will be the Community Center. The interiors of the Performing Arts Center/Council Chambers are in drywall, the first level interiors of the Administration Building are framed out and the Senior Center is structurally complete.

On August 20, 2018, the construction crew began pouring concrete pads for the Performing Arts Center and the Community Center. The structure of the Performing Arts Center/City Council Chambers is starting to take shape, the framework of the 50-foot clock tower can now be seen and the parking structure is officially finished.

On April 17, 2018, the City Council unanimously approved 22 construction contracts for the Civic Center, keeping work for the project on budget and schedule.

On January 2, 2018, the City officially renamed Biscayne Bay to Serrano Summit and Indian Ocean to Civic Center Drive. With rough-grading at the Civic Center site complete, rapid progress continues as contractors begin installing utilities followed by construction of the single level parking deck. Utilities and Civic Center Drive street improvements.

On December 13, 2017, the City celebrated the first cement pour at the Civic Center site, marking another milestone reached in the construction of the community’s “100-Year” home.

Building Green

The new City Hall Administration building is adjacent to hiking and bike trails. The site is designed to support and enhance outdoor activities, as well as serve as the City’s 100-year home with facilities that address the community’s needs under the LEED certification system.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. Available for virtually all building, community and home project types, LEED provides a framework to create healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings. LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement.

Projects pursuing LEED certification earn points across several categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation and more. Based on the number of points achieved, a project then earns one of four LEED rating levels: Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum.

Click here to see the City’s LEED documentation.

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