EARTHQUAKE: THE LONG ROAD BACK : Closure of City Hall Comes as a Surprise : Quake repair: Damage to the Santa Clarita government building is worse than thought. Employees and tenants will be kept out for up to three months.

City Hall will remain closed for 60 to 90 days to allow work crews to shore up columns in the earthquake-battered building.

Officials estimate that it will cost $3 million to restore the three-story structure, triple the initial projection.

The decision Tuesday to close City Hall came as a surprise to city employees and building tenants, who had expected to begin working out of the Valencia Boulevard site this week. They are being allowed limited access to the building during the next few days to remove belongings and equipment.

Inspectors discovered additional damage to City Hall on Friday when they tore open the building’s main columns and found that the mechanisms that allow the structure to absorb earthquake tremors were damaged.

The building is structurally sound, but has only half of the stability it originally did to withstand an earthquake, according to Jesse Juarros, city general services manager.

“It’s not going to fall on anybody,” said Juarros, “but we want to make it where it is seismically sound.”

The reduced seismic strength will cause the building to rock more during a temblor and cause more damage to items inside.

In addition to the safety issue, city officials don’t want contractors to have to work around tenants, which would slow repair efforts.

Juarros said it will cost about $3 million to repair the building and another $1 million to replace furniture and fixtures inside.

Santa Clarita purchased City Hall two years ago for about $11.5 million. The 7 1/2-year-old building has 72,000 square feet of space and houses most city administrative offices and 18 private tenants.

City offices that normally operate out of City Hall have been relocated to temporary buildings on the site’s east parking lot. In the days following the Northridge earthquake, they were operating out of tents in the same area.

City Manager George Caravalho predicted few services will be cut back because the staff will be working out of portable offices. Some non-essential city services, such as registering for adult recreation programs, have been temporarily postponed.

Efforts are under way to find more permanent structures for city departments for the next 90 days.

Also searching for available office space are the 18 private tenants. They include the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, Valencia National Bank and a variety of other professional offices.

Tenants praised city officials for keeping them informed of the fate of their offices, but some say it will be a major problem for them to relocate. Santa Clarita stopped charging rent after the Jan. 17 earthquake, losing about $2,000 per day in income.

One business that will have trouble moving is the office of dentist Alexander Villar. Dental facilities require special plumbing and careful moving of delicate machinery, according to office manager Rhonda Villar.

“It’s very difficult because we have major equipment,” said Villar. “We can’t just operate without that equipment. It’s not just like picking up your paperwork and moving.”

Villar hopes to find another dental office in Santa Clarita that will be willing to share space while repair work goes on at City Hall. She said the dental practice will definitely return to City Hall when repairs are complete.

City Hall was not the only building unable to return to its normal routine this week.

Rosedell Elementary School, in the Saugus Union School District, will remain closed until further notice as crews attempt to remove asbestos from one wing on campus.

Revised estimates by Santa Clarita indicate $162.3 million in damage from the Jan. 17 earthquake. The figure does not include damage to post offices or libraries.