BURBANK : Airport Picks Firm for Seismic Retrofit

The Burbank Airport Authority has awarded a half-million-dollar contract to a local firm to retrofit its main terminal to meet seismic standards.

Airport commissioners voted unanimously Monday to hire Burbank-based Wm. Christian Co. to reinforce the airport’s Terminal A to comply with the city building code. The company submitted the lowest bid at $383,095, but is authorized to spend up to $500,000.

The airport was advised in June that it had to conduct a structural analysis of its main terminal and then retrofit or demolish the building. The airport had previously declined in 1991 to carry out the study, saying the terminal was “probably substantially in compliance already” with building codes.

But city officials told the Airport Authority that the airport was not exempt. Retrofitting is to be completed by March, 1995.

In question are a few brick columns inside the terminal, which must be bolted to the roof and floor. Officials in June estimated that retrofitting would cost millions of dollars, but staff estimates eventually put the project at about $550,000.

Although the building is not fully up to seismic standards, the terminal escaped damage in the Northridge earthquake. Only Terminal B and the airport’s parking structure suffered damage in the temblor.