Concrete Footings Rise Beneath a Library That Will Turn 100 While Closed

Crews have been pouring concrete footings weekly since June in the basement of Central Library, section by section, in what the City of Pasadena describes as one of the most important structural phases of the building’s earthquake retrofit.

Tim McDonald, director of libraries and information services, reported in the City Manager’s weekly newsletter on July 16 that the contractor has fully completed basement demolition and that crews have begun trenching for new footings and building rebar cages, working through the west basement — where the heaviest work was needed — and now moving east.

What the update does not mention is the price, the source of the money, or the anniversary the building will spend behind construction fencing. Central Library turns 100 on Feb. 12, 2027. The retrofit that will keep it closed on that date was discovered because of that centennial: in April 2021, in preparation for the 100-year anniversary, city building officials inspected the building for maintenance and upgrades, and the seismic portion of that inspection determined the nearly century-old structure needed a significant earthquake retrofit. It closed on May 3, 2021.

The problem is the construction itself. Most of the building is unreinforced masonry, the category of older structure that state and local codes have long targeted for strengthening. Central Library, designed by Myron Hunt and H.C. Chambers was the first building completed under Pasadena’s Civic Center Plan, in 1927.

Voters supplied the money. In November 2024, Pasadena residents approved Measure PL, authorizing $195 million in general obligation bonds. The city estimated the issuance would cost about $12 million annually, equal to an average of $19.61 per $100,000 of a parcel’s assessed valuation over the bond’s 30-year term, with the annual figure ranging from $12.58 to $28.90 across those years. The city has also received two state grants totaling $9 million and applied for two more offering $10 million each.

The City Council approved an amendment to PCL Construction Services’ contract to begin Phase 2, full construction, on March 2. The project uses a construction manager-at-risk delivery method, which brings the contractor in during design and establishes a guaranteed maximum price. Gruen Associates leads the design, working with a historic preservation consultant and under a mayor-appointed Technical Oversight Committee. Completion is targeted for summer 2028.

The sequence McDonald described will occupy the basement for months. Old concrete and brick come off the floor and walls; excavators dig the new footings to dimension; rebar cages are assembled in the trenches and inspected and approved by the city before any concrete is poured; then concrete goes in, with some rebar left exposed to tie into the next stage. Crews then apply shotcrete — a thick, spray-on concrete — around the rebar, building up to the future floor level. Soil is compacted for the new slab, more rebar is added, another inspection follows, and the slab is poured. Structural walls will later continue upward with additional rebar and shotcrete, following the engineers’ design.

The inspections in that sequence are not incidental. Under the California Building Code, concrete, reinforcing steel, shotcrete, soils and compaction, and anchoring systems all require materials testing and special inspection during construction to verify the work matches approved plans and building standards.

The city said the multi-step process has seen significant progress in its first steps, keeping the project on schedule for the coming construction phases — a characterization attributable to the Department of Libraries and Information Services.

Project information is posted at cityofpasadena.net/Library/Central-Library-Earthquake-Retrofit.