Community celebrates completion of Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard’s new $7.8 million facility

Dozens tour the inside of the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard Headquarters, meeting Lifeguards and getting official souvenirs, during an open house following a ribbon cutting ceremony that officially opened the new facility on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)

By Laylan Connelly | lconnelly@scng.com | Orange County Register

UPDATED: June 13, 2024 at 2:53 p.m.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held this week to welcome the new Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard building, a years-long, $7.8 million project that will also be an events space for the community during the off season.

Dignitaries, donors and the public checked out the new digs on Wednesday, touring the 5,400-square-foot facility that sits just south of the Balboa Pier.

Newport Beach Mayor Will O’Neill, and other local officials, cut a ribbon to officially open the new Junior Lifeguard Headquarter on Balboa Peninsula during a Grand Opening and Dedication Ceremony on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)

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A “donor wall” decorates the side of the building, a memento thanking community members who pitched in to cover more than $2 million for the project through the nonprofit Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard Foundation, which spreaheaded the fundraising efforts.

The city used $5.2 million received through the American Rescue Plan Act for the remainder of the project.

The Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard program, established in 1984, is one of the city’s most popular youth education programs, employing about 60 instructors and averaging 1,400 participants each summer. The seven-week program operates from late June through early August.

And for its first 40 years, the Newport Beach junior lifeguard program operated out of makeshift trailers.

There was no running water and each summer portable bathrooms were set up for the 1,500 kids who participated in the popular beach safety program. The cramped trailers served as the office for the 50 or so instructors who each day showed up to teach the youngsters at the seaside classroom set on the sand.

The new facility includes administrative and event space, expanded storage, locker rooms and private and public restrooms. Construction also included improvements to the nearby parking lot and the addition of electric vehicle charging stations.

Graham Harvey, chairman of the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard Foundation, said seeing the building open is an exciting, rewarding moment that marked 12 years of planning and fundraising efforts.

“It really brought every stakeholder together, from junior guard families, regular citizens, city staff, nonprofits – all for one united project,” he said. “It just shows how important the program is to the community. Our hope is that this building truly generates the next generation of lifeguards and really enhances the program for the current junior lifeguards.”