Seismic Study Lists Unsafe State Buildings

Four years after voters approved bonds to strengthen government buildings, the Wilson Administration on Friday identified the most seismically unsafe state buildings in California, including three in Downtown Los Angeles that it singled out for demolition.

Among the other structures most in need of repair are a San Quentin prison block, a complex of nine buildings at Camarillo State Hospital and a prison administration building at Norco, according to the long-awaited report issued by the state Department of General Services.

Despite the rankings, State Architect Harry C. Hallenbeck sought to reassure the public as well as those working in the buildings that none of the top-ranking buildings are unsafe to occupy.

“Nothing that we have seen so far produces any imminent concern” for people who work in the buildings, Hallenbeck said. “However, we shouldn’t delay” retrofitting or replacing the buildings, he said.

In a report to the Legislature, the Wilson Administration urged lawmakers to immediately earmark $194.5 million in remaining bond funds to strengthen or reconstruct the 19 buildings on the list.

Ranked first and second were the Junipero Serra State Office Building on South Broadway and the Caltrans district office on Spring Street, both in Downtown Los Angeles and both recommended for demolition. The report also recommends demolition of the South Hill Street parking garage in Downtown Los Angeles and the San Diego State Office building on Front Street in San Diego.

Hallenbeck said he does not believe that any of the state buildings identified on the list were damaged in the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake. “None of them appear to have any significant damage,” he said.

Voters approved $250 million in bonds in 1990 for seismic strengthening of state buildings, and at the time authorities said the ranking of 14,000 state buildings would be completed in two years. But the process became mired in red tape and only 6,800 of the most heavily used and highest-risk buildings have been inspected, Hallenbeck acknowledged.

After the Northridge quake, state engineers scrambled to finish the report. Among the risk factors considered in ranking the buildings were location in seismically active areas, the number of people who occupy the building and how much the structure is used.

In some cases, buildings on the list already were scheduled to be repaired or replaced as part of long-term state plans. Such work is likely to happen more quickly after being designated on the list released Friday.

But it remains unclear how quickly any of the recommended work will get done. Faced with a list of specific structures in need of seismic strengthening, the Legislature will be under pressure to take action.

Even if lawmakers agree quickly to follow the recommendations and appropriate the funds, repairs could not begin much before next year, according to Greg Sandin, a spokesman for the Department of General Services.

The Legislature also could re-examine the list of projects and choose to allocate the bond money for work on buildings of higher priority for lawmakers. Even as the state was preparing its rankings, lawmakers earmarked more than $50 million for pet projects, including improvements to the Museum of Science and Industry in Exposition Park.

Likewise, planning funds have been set aside to replace a state office building damaged in the San Francisco district of Assembly Speaker Willie Brown in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake.

Influential legislators also have proposed using the bond funds to buttress a legislative office building near the Capitol, even though it is not in an area as seismically active as Los Angeles.

In the case of the three Downtown Los Angeles structures, demolition and rebuilding was deemed to be less costly than trying to retrofit.

Ranked first on the list was the Junipero Serra State Office Building, which was recommended for demolition at a cost of $40 million, including $32 million to relocate electrical and communications equipment. About 3,000 people currently work in that building, and they would be relocated to other state office buildings.

Second was the Caltrans district office on Spring Street, which would be rebuilt on the site of the Serra State Office Building. The $77-million cost of the project would be paid from transportation funds, not seismic bond money. About 3,000 people work in the Caltrans building.

Among the structures recommended for a full retrofitting, which includes electrical and plumbing improvements, are a receiving and treatment building at Fairview Development Center in Costa Mesa and two complexes of buildings at the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk.

Another complex of buildings at the Norwalk hospital was recommended to receive a less sweeping structural retrofitting, as was the Veterans Memorial State Office Building in downtown Long Beach.

Along with the prison building at San Quentin, two buildings at the Norco Correctional Institution are slated for structural retrofitting.

One Senate aide familiar with the ranking questioned why limited bond funds should be funneled to make improvements at prisons when the Department of Corrections already has a large prison construction budget.

Architect Hallenbeck said he was not directed to distinguish among the types of state buildings at risk.

The state review excluded structures in either of the state university systems, which have conducted their own reviews and are not eligible for money from this bond fund. The state also has prepared a separate list of local government projects eligible for $50 million from the bond funding.