The Civic Center is constructed on a portion of the former 33 acre Waterman Park Housing property. The remainder of the site is master planned as a governmental center, to include a library, post office, theater-auditorium, State and Federal offices and school administration building, surrounding the large lake in the center of the site. The Civic Center design is the winning entry of Architect Robert Hawley in the City's design competition that attracted over 40 entries from Northern California architects..