Basement Foundation Work Passes Halfway on Central Library’s $186 Million Retrofit

Foundation work in the basement of Pasadena’s Central Library is more than halfway finished and crews have begun preparing the main floor for seismic reinforcement, according to the City of Pasadena.

New footings, shotcrete and vapor barrier installation are moving zone by zone through the basement, and more than half of it has completed rebar installation, shotcrete pouring, vapor barrier laying, electrical floor box installation, concrete slab pours and underground plumbing, the city said. On the main floor, preparation of the brick walls has started so the walls are ready for rebar and concrete as reinforcement climbs from the basement.

The 1927 building, designed by Myron Hunt and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, closed May 3, 2021 after a seismic evaluation found its unreinforced masonry structure out of compliance with the Pasadena Municipal Code. California’s seismic requirements for such buildings drive the retrofit, which will lift the structure’s red-tag designation. Services moved to branch locations and online, and many special collections went out of reach.

Voters covered the bill on Nov. 5, 2024, approving Measure PL by more than 72% and authorizing $195 million in general obligation bonds. The city estimated debt service at about $12 million a year — an average of $19.61 per $100,000 of a parcel’s assessed valuation over the bond’s 30-year term, ranging from $12.58 to $28.90. Two state grants totaling $9 million also went to the project. “Pasadena’s Central Library is a landmark and a lifeline for our community,” Mayor Victor Gordo said when the measure passed.

Tim McDonald, the city’s director of libraries and information services, reported that the Central Library Retrofit and Renovations project remains on schedule. That schedule runs through August 2028, and the work is carried by a construction contract with a not-to-exceed value of $186,186,155 — the guaranteed maximum price the City Council locked in on March 2 when it increased PCL Construction Services Inc.’s agreement by $177,533,815 for Phase 2.

The city is building under a construction manager at-risk model that brought PCL in during design and set a guaranteed maximum price. Gruen Associates led design under a contract that reached $9.56 million, up from an original award of $6,104,109 in 2023, with Historic Resources Group advising on preservation. A Technical Oversight Committee appointed by the mayor and chaired by Caltech’s Paul Jennings, with Pasadena Heritage’s Sue Mossman among its members, reviews the design. In March the council added $335,950 for independent materials testing and special inspections.

The city calls the library “a cornerstone of the City’s historic Civic Center” and puts its normal traffic at more than 1,000 daily visitors and nearly 900 community meetings and events a year. A December groundbreaking marked the midpoint of what is expected to be a seven-year closure, with the doors targeted to reopen in 2028. Project updates are posted at https://www.cityofpasadena.net/Library/Central-Library-Earthquake-Retrofit/.