VAN NUYS CITY HALL IS VALLEY'S VEXING SYMBOL.Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer The rubble of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. has been cleared almost everywhere in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. - except at Van Nuys City Hall. City workers gaze at fissures in their office walls or at the plastic sheets that veil them. The aging elevator rattles and rumbles on its shaky ascent through eight battered stories. The once-grand foyer, with its 25-foot ceilings and art deco art deco (ärt dĕkō`; är dākō`, ärt) or art moderne (är môdĕrn`, ärt) chandelier, is hidden behind plywood. The decorative tiles that adorned it are stored away for safekeeping Safekeeping The storage of assets or other items of value in a protected area. Notes: Individuals may use self-directed methods of safekeeping or the services of a bank or brokerage firm. . ``All the air conditioning air conditioning, mechanical process for controlling the humidity, temperature, cleanliness, and circulation of air in buildings and rooms. Indoor air is conditioned and regulated to maintain the temperature-humidity ratio that is most comfortable and healthful. and everything is so old that nothing works here,'' said Deputy City Engineer Rodney K. Haraga. ``Nothing works.'' Four years after the devastation, Van Nuys City Hall stands as a crumbling testament to neglect from downtown-Los Angeles City Angeles City (Tagalog: Lungsod ng Angeles; Kapampangan: Ciudad ning Angeles), geographically located within the province of Pampanga in the Philippines, is locally classified as a first-class, highly urbanized city. Hall. Plans for renovation or replacement, which would cost from $15 million to $54 million, have stalled and now are threatened by the city's money crunch and other priorities. For Valley-cityhood leaders, Van Nuys City Hall has become a symbol of the city's failure to fulfill its responsibilities to the neighborhoods. Important for Valley ``It's not only important to Van Nuys, but it's important to the entire Valley,'' said Richard Close, chairman of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, the group pursuing cityhood. ``That Van Nuys City Hall, architecturally, is a miniature city hall, but it's also, for decades, the place we've been getting our city services. It is the heart of our local government.'' For those who work at the Van Nuys City Hall, it's more like hell. ``Our concerns are just the basic discomfort of working in a place with missing ceiling tiles, ceiling tiles falling down, cracks in the walls,'' said Frank Bonoff, district engineer and one of at least 130 city employees who occupy the decrepit de·crep·it adj. Weakened, worn out, impaired, or broken down by old age, illness, or hard use. See Synonyms at weak. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin d structure. ``This is my favorite: the men's room,'' he said sarcastically as he ushered guests into a restroom laced by wall and ceiling cracks and flecked fleck n. 1. A tiny mark or spot: flecks of mica in the rock. 2. A small bit or flake: flecks of foam; a fleck of dandruff. tr.v. by peeling paint. ``This is the crown jewel Crown jewel A particularly profitable or otherwise particularly valuable corporate unit or asset of a firm. Often used in risk arbitrage. The most desirable entities within a diversified corporation as measured by asset value, earning power, and business prospects; in takeover of the building.'' Since the earthquake, the building has been caught in the limbo of government inaction. ``Everyone thought it was going to be demolished,'' Bonoff said. ``But then it became an historic building, so they decided to renovate it. So we've been in between demolition and renovation ever since.'' Examining options Today the issue will come before the city Municipal Facilities Committee, which will examine options that range from razing the building and replacing it, to repairing it and building a new civic center as well. Concern is high about the city's mounting debt and whether it can afford to borrow money for the project. Meanwhile, bare-bones repairs are under way. Construction crews poised on scaffolds are shooting epoxy into cracks to seal the damaged surfaces. The next step in a $6.5 million seismic retrofit will include building concrete walls, to buttress the steel frame against shearing stress, and removing or repairing the inner wall tiles that shifted during the quake. The hollow clay tiles lie behind the dry wall and in some places now are exposed. Stacked without reinforcement or grout Grout A binding or structural agent used in construction and engineering applications. Grout is typically a mixture of hydraulic cement and water, with or without fine aggregate; however, chemical grouts are also produced. , they could tumble down in a future quake. ``They need to be either removed or reinforced,'' Haraga said, ``because once the blocks move they have no strength - and they've moved.'' Those improvements, already funded by a 1989 seismic bond, are the minimum needed to stabilize the building. Valley residents, aggravated by the eyesore eye·sore n. Something, such as a distressed building, that is unpleasant or offensive to view. eyesore Noun something very ugly Noun 1. and frustrated by disruptions to city services, are insisting on full-scale renovation. But the money is in question. Costs for downtown City Hall's renovation are estimated at nearly $300 million and expected to go higher. City Controller Rick Tuttle has urged the city to steer clear of debt financing Debt Financing When a firm raises money for working capital or capital expenditures by selling bonds, bills, or notes to individual and/or institutional investors. In return for lending the money, the individuals or institutions become creditors and receive a promise to repay , but said up to $75 million from the 1989 seismic bond is still available unless consumed by other projects or downtown City Hall overruns. SPENDING ON CITY HALLS Estimated costs to renovate Los Angeles city halls downtown and in Van Nuys Downtown: From $273 million to $311 million, up from original budget of $97 million. Van Nuys: Four options, ranging from $15 million to $54 million. SOURCE: City of Los Angeles
CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Chart Photo: (1--Color) Deputy City Engineer Rodney K. Haraga checks out cracks at Van Nuys City Hall, unrepaired from Northridge Earthquake damage four years ago. (2--Color) A sheet of plastic, hung to veil holes in the ceiling, sags in a men's restroom at Van Nuys City Hall. David R. Crane/Daily News Chart: (Color) SPENDING ON CITY HALLS (See Text) Daily News |
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