Problem-Plagued CSUN Building Takes Blow From Knockdown Crew

The Sylmar earthquake gave it a jolt in 1971. Then the Northridge temblor left it reeling four years ago. And finally Monday morning, a demolition crew at Cal State Northridge delivered a knockout blow to the University Tower Apartments--the last of five quake-damaged buildings being razed to make way for new campus projects.

About 40 people gathered in an adjacent parking lot to watch as a 6,000-pound steel ball repeatedly smashed into the hulking, seven-story dormitory.

The $1-million project will take through August to destroy the 29-year-old brick and concrete apartment complex that overshadows nearby ranch-style homes and low-rise apartments.

Some spectators viewed the demolition as cathartic, clearing away the last vestiges of the 1994 Northridge earthquake and making room for the university’s future--a proposed 12-acre entertainment industry complex. But others said they felt nostalgic, sensing the end of an era.

With each crash of the wrecking ball, gone were rooms where students became friends and sweated over studying. With each crash, gone was the university’s headache of trying to salvage a deteriorating building with asbestos contamination and faulty plumbing--disrepair that forced the complex to close in 1991.

“It’s sad. I spent two years of my life here. I met a lot of friends,” said Deborah Anthony, 38, a Ventura nurse who graduated in 1983. While studying in the cavernous lobby filled with vinyl couches, Anthony met her husband, Doug, a university facilities worker.

After the apartments shut down, Anthony sifted through a box of keys and picked out the big brass one from room 306--his wife’s old apartment. For their memento box, he explained. The soft-spoken man murmured that he thought the building was indestructible.

“You couldn’t hurt this building, not like the new ones,” said Anthony, 45. “If you tried to punch a hole in the wall, you’d hurt your hand on the concrete.”

The University Tower Apartments building was built in 1969 for $3.8 million. CSUN--then San Fernando Valley State College--opened its first on-campus student housing with the hope of attracting more students from across the country, said Edmund Peckham, a former vice president of student affairs.

“It used to be a little community school in the Valley,” said Peckham, 74, shielding his eyes from the sun as he watched the walls crumble. “Now it’s gained in stature.”

But as the university’s fortunes rose--with enrollment tripling to 30,000 before the Northridge quake--the landmark apartments went into decline.

Former residents and staff complained of the cold, gloomy hallways and of roach and ant infestations. In addition, CSUN rejected its monolithic architecture in favor of the rolling, three-story University Park complex completed in 1991.

By then, the problems were piling up: The complex needed new plumbing, asbestos removal, seismic upgrades and other repairs at an estimated cost of $8 million. CSUN closed the dormitory in 1991 while officials tried to determine what to do with it. Then the Northridge earthquake struck, causing $35.3 million in damages to the complex.

The earthquake was a hidden blessing, said Barry Walker, 34, a Granada Hills sociology major watching the demolition, the sun glinting off his shaved head and sunglasses. “Let’s get rid of it. It’s been an eyesore for so long.”

Because CSUN officials wanted to focus earthquake work on buildings they were bringing back into service--such as the Fine Arts Building and wings of the Oviatt Library--the University Tower Apartments demolition had low priority, said John Chandler, a university spokesman.

Dismantling the complex is a two-step process. Funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, San-Diego based Clauss Construction will spend the next four to six weeks battering down the top five floors with the ball and crane, and then breaking down the bottom two floors, said Patrick Clauss, the firm’s president. The crew will then clean up the site and prepare the concrete and steel for recycling.

Some observers looked forward to watching the demolition work all summer.

“I’ve been waiting for them to knock it down,” said Matthew Bouchard, 12, of Northridge, as he straddled his bicycle. “Kids like seeing things get destroyed.”