Westminster City Council
SUBJECT
Title
Selection of a Qualified Consultant for the Design and Development of the Little Saigon Archway by the Ad Hoc Committee.
End
From: Christine Cordon, City Manager
Requested by: Administration
Prepared by: Adolfo Ozaeta, Assistant City Manager
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
Recommendation
Consider the selection of a qualified consultant for the design and development of the Little Saigon Archway by the Ad Hoc Committee.
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BACKGROUND
While Little Saigon is generally associated with the area of Bolsa Avenue, between Magnolia Street and Brookhurst Street, it is not clearly identified as a tourist, cultural, or business district. Little Saigon has also expanded into surrounding cities. The desire to highlight Little Saigon as a cultural, business, and tourist district has always been in the forefront of discussions related to economic development and enhancement. The topic brought up most in these discussions is the lack of an archway or gateway to highlight Little Saigon’s location, similar to archways seen in La Mesa, El Cajon, San Diego’s Gaslamp District, San Diego’s Little Italy, Chinatowns throughout the nation, and historic districts nationwide.
Since 2023, the City of Westminster has been working with the County of Orange to advance an archway project. In accordance with state law, the design-build selection process was initiated and included a Request for Qualification process, followed by a Request for Proposal process. The effort was abruptly halted by the County of Orange in November 2023 due to concerns from former District 1 Supervisor Andrew Do’s office regarding the cost of the design, which was grossly underestimated.
On June 25, 2025, at the request of Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen, City Council authorized staff to hire a consultant and reinitiate the design-build selection process and piggyback on existing work conducted by City staff during the 2023 efforts. This includes obtaining a more accurate cost estimate, assessing potential locations along Bolsa Avenue that could support an archway, and creating a new archway concept.
On July 24, 2025, the City of Westminster released a Request for Qualifications inviting qualified and experienced design consultants to submit a Statement of Qualifications for the design and development of a City archway feature in the Little Saigon area. This high-profile gateway will serve as a symbolic and physical entrance to the Little Saigon area and will celebrate the cultural identity, community pride, and historical importance of the Vietnamese-American community in Westminster and the surrounding region.
On August 18, 2025, the City of Westminster received five (5) Statements of Qualifications from interested consultants. While City staff is fully committed to vetting and selecting consultants, contractors, and vendors, this effort is unique because the selection of the best artistic and cultural components is subjective.
On August 27, 2025, the City Council created an Ad Hoc Committee of two council members (Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen and Vice Mayor Carlos Manzo) to review the Statements of Qualifications submittals and make a recommendation to the City Council for the selection of a qualified consultant for the design and development of an archway concept in the Little Saigon area. The Ad Hoc Committee shortlisted two consultants and conducted interviews.
Based on project understanding, scope, and experience, the Ad Hoc Committee is recommending MIG, a landscape architecture firm, as the most qualified consultant. If approved by the City Council, staff will work with MIG to develop a cost estimate for the technical and administrative efforts related to the development of the archway conceptual design. The process will include several opportunities for the City Council to provide input during the development of the archway concept prior to final approval.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact for approving the Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendation to select MIG as the most qualified consultant. However, there will be a cost associated with awarding MIG the conceptual design once a cost estimate and scope of services is developed.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed as to form.
CONCLUSION
The Mayor and City Council should consider the Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendation to select MIG as the most qualified consultant to develop a conceptual design of the Little Saigon Archway. The cost estimate and scope of services for the conceptual design of the Little Saigon Archway will be presented to the City Council at a future meeting.
ATTACHMENTS
None
REVIEWED BY
Erin Backs, Finance Director
City Attorney’s Office
Christine Cordon, City Manager