CANOGA PARK BOEING PLANT BEING REMADE.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

A relic from the San Fernando Valley's glory days of the aerospace industry, the Boeing Co.'s sprawling Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power facility at DeSoto Avenue and Nordhoff Street, is getting a $10 million makeover.

Passersby probably won't notice, though, while the renovation is under way or once it's complete by late next summer or early next fall. The vast majority of the work is being done inside the 108,000-square-foot building at 8900 DeSoto Ave.

The structure, built in the early 1960s, will be getting a fresh coat of paint (the color hasn't been picked yet) and some fresh landscaping. But the vast majority of the work will be done inside the building, not outside.

Jim Pelger, director of facilities and plant operations at the company, said the work will be done in two phases.

The building has been partitioned into two sections and the work is being done one section at a time. Employees affected by the work in progress have been relocated to temporary offices, Pelger said.

``This is a full upgrade. We're going in and taking down all the interior walls and then starting again from the ground up,'' he said.

This work is part of Boeing's 10-year plan to upgrade facilities throughout the region.

And in this tight market for commercial space, where large parcels are scarce, starting over almost from scratch makes more sense than trying to find land for a new building.

Grubb & Ellis, in its mid-year assessment of the industrial markets in the Los Angeles basin, noted that construction of new buildings is not proceeding at a pace that can satisfy demand.

It noted that supply is especially tight in the eastern and central Valley.

That being the case, Pelger said that when the work is done the company will essentially have a new facility.

``It's a pretty old building and let's face it, aerospace architecture was not the most leading edge in terms of interior design. It was really functional more than anything else,'' said company spokesman Dan Beck.

The Woodland Hills office of Irvine-headquartered Ware & Malcomb Architects is in charge of the redesign.

Project manager Rick Gunter said the new interior will incorporate the most current concepts in open-office environments. For example, instead of offices, the new facility will feature work station cubicles, and tools like copiers and fax machines will be located in common areas.

``We want to encourage meetings between engineers that might not otherwise cross paths,'' he said. ``It makes for a more creative environment.''