Crenshaw Center Site for New Mall Passes Test for Earthquake Safety

The fading Crenshaw shopping center has come through an earthquake-related investigation with flying colors, clearing the way for its $100-million conversion to a modern, enclosed mall serving a large section of Southwest Los Angeles.

Dispelling fears, the geological investigation uncovered no signs of earth ruptures within the 42-acre site. A geologist said this means that a fault is unlikely to occur at surface level and rebuilding the complex, a pioneering retailing venture of the late 1940s, can go ahead as planned.

Geologists, city planners and the developer had feared that the discovery of ground faults underlying the site on the eastern edge of the Baldwin Hills could kill, drastically change or send the renewal project’s costs soaring.

“Everyone is relieved,” said Ozie Hunt, field deputy for Los Angeles City Council President Pat Russell, who has been involved in the center’s redevelopment. “We thought we had a lot of land (on our hands) that we couldn’t use. We’re pleased to find there’s no geological hazard to building . . . as originally planned.”

L.A.’s 1st Suburban Center

The city has been trying for several years to redevelop the Crenshaw complex--the Los Angeles area’s first suburban shopping center--as a way to give the declining, predominantly black neighborhood a boost.

Although stalled while the geological exploration was under way, the revitalization plan worked out by the Community Redevelopment Agency for the center is unique among the city’s urban renewal programs. It establishes a partnership between the city and the developer, the Alexander Haagen Development Co. They will split the new mall’s profits, if any, according to agency officials.

Douglas E. Moran, whose Tustin firm conducted the $267,000 geological investigation for the agency, said he was surprised that the extensive underground inquiry uncovered no signs of a fault.

The investigation, which began with heavy excavation in early August, was completed only days ago and involved painstaking studies of the earth along 1,000 feet of trenching and nearly 450 feet of tunneling. Earth-moving equipment dug the trenches to depths of 30 feet.

Clear for 11,000 Years

Moran said material was exposed that showed no disturbance in the last 11,000 years, covering the geologic period that concerns state law, which restricts certain construction in fault zones.

“If there is a fault in that neighborhood it either bypasses (the area) we investigated or stops short of it,” Moran said. “This type of fault . . . doesn’t necessarily run in a straight line or continue indefinitely. It can also turn.”

Under the rebuilding plan, a covered bridge containing small shops will be built over Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, linking the center’s two main stores, the Broadway and May Co. A third major department store will be built where a parking lot is now and the enclosed mall will connect it with existing stores along Crenshaw Boulevard.

Russell’s office said construction would probably begin next spring and take 18 months.