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Pasadena City Hall is the central feature of the Civic Center that established Pasadena as a major cultural destination in the late 1920s. Completed in 1927, the building is now undergoing an $80 million seismic upgrade and rehabilitation. Clark Construction Group - California, LP is serving as general contractor on the project for the City of Pasadena.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 190,000-square-foot building is constructed of reinforced-concrete construction with stucco rendering, elaborate cast stone ornamentation, tile roofs, and a massive six-story domed tower. Clark’s work will focus on the structural upgrades of the building, which includes the installation of a base isolation system. This system will allow the ground to move around the structure during a seismic event. The team will also install new shear walls and a “moat” to isolate the perimeter, renovate the interior and exterior components, and replace mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems.
The primary focus of the project is the seismic isolation, which consists of removal of the original basement floor slab, excavation and installation of a new foundation, placement of a new basement floor support, and installation of 240 friction pendulum isolators between the foundation and basement level. Shear walls will be installed on the east end of the building’s wings. The existing arcade will be demolished and replaced with a new arcade that ties the building’s two wings together.
City Hall’s California Mediterranean style exterior also will be refurbished, including all cast stone elements, plaster, copper cladding on the dome, and stair towers. New site paving, landscaping, planters and granite walkways will add the finishing touches to the restoration.
Interior walls also will be replaced, plaster ceilings restored and new finishes added. An existing historic elevator cab will be restored and a modern elevator cab will be refurbished to match.
The project team includes Architectural Resources Group of San Francisco, architect; GKC Engineering Corporation, civil engineer and Forell Elsesser, structural engineer. The anticipated completion date for the project is Mid-2007.
Contact: Corporate Communications
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