Work on LAX Icon Will Be Done by Fall
By Art Marroquin, Staff Writer
July 12, 2009
The web of scaffolding surrounding the Theme Building is slowly disappearing, but officials at Los Angeles International Airport said the ongoing $15.2 million effort to shore up the iconic structure won't be completed until fall.
Renovations to the structure's steel bars and stucco walls will finally come to an end in September, more than two years after a 1,000-pound chunk of plaster fell from the top of the building.
Airport and architecture aficionados can also look forward to the reopening of the Theme Building's observation deck by October, according to Michael Molina, LAX's senior director of external affairs.
The rooftop platform was closed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"Many people asked us to consider reopening the observation deck," Molina said. "It's been a tradition for many families to drop off a loved one at the airport, then climb up to the deck to watch the plane depart, and they can start doing that again this fall."
The Theme Building opened in 1961 and was designated a city cultural and historic monument in 1992, meaning it cannot be significantly altered. That has posed a challenge to construction crews charged with installing much-needed seismic upgrades, along with improvements that meet standards set by the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Nearly 600 tons of steel still needs to be installed within the main column of the landmark building to counteract any violent motion that may be caused by an earthquake, said LAX spokesman Albert Rodriguez. Additionally, the white stucco wall surrounding the entire building is undergoing seismic retrofitting.
"We have to find a way to get the steel into the Theme Building without altering the look or the structure," Rodriguez said. "It's a tricky thing to do, which is why it's been taking so long."
Signs of disrepair first emerged Feb. 24, 2007, when a stucco slab fell from one of the upper arches and crashed into the structure's main platform, landing just a few feet from the roof of the Space Age-style Encounter Restaurant.
Airport engineers peeled back the white stucco layers and discovered that rust had spread throughout the building's metal support system, likely caused by water that seeped past the plaster seams.
Less than two weeks later, the Theme Building and Encounter Restaurant were closed as a precaution. Since then, restoration work has progressed, albeit slowly.
First, CSA Constructors Inc. removed the building's stucco under a $1.8 million contract, leaving the metal skeleton exposed for months.
Then, Gin Wong Associates was paid $1.5 million to oversee the emergency demolition and hazardous abatement of the Theme Building, along with an additional $2.6 million to draw up plans to rebuild the exterior.
The Encounter Restaurant reopened in November 2007, but panoramic, 360-degree views of the airport from the eatery's windows remained blocked by scaffolding.
The final stretch of construction started last summer, when the airport commission approved a $9.3 million contract with Tower General Contractors to replace the Theme Building's plaster exterior. The firm also installed a mechanical ventilation system within each of the parabolic arches to keep the inner walls dry and minimize corrosion of the metal skeleton.
"The ventilation system is going to be state-of-the art," Rodriguez said. "We don't want water leaking in and ruining the structure again."