Crews Pour First Concrete Footings in Pasadena’s Central Library Retrofit

Construction crews poured the first concrete footings in the basement of Pasadena’s Central Library on Wednesday, June 10, according to a City of Pasadena project update reported by Tim McDonald, Director of Libraries and Information Services.

The pour, which the City called a major milestone, set the first new foundation concrete beneath a civic landmark that has been closed to the public since 2021. Voters approved $195 million for the work through Measure PL in November 2024, and the City says the project remains on schedule for completion in 2028.

The footings went into zones where excavation and rebar installation were already finished, according to the update, published June 17 by the Pasadena Public Library. Excavation, rebar installation and roof tile removal are all proceeding on schedule, the City said, describing the project’s momentum as steady and consistent. Crews are working through the 120,000-square-foot building zone by zone, with about 70 workers on site.

The library closed on May 3, 2021, after a seismic inspection found that most of the nearly century-old building is unreinforced masonry — bearing walls not tied to the structure’s floors, leaving it vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake. The footings now being poured are part of a concrete shear-wall approach the City Council selected in August 2023.

As excavation continues, rebar installation is progressing for both structural footings and structural walls throughout the building, the City said, and dust-suppression efforts have been increased to limit the impact on nearby residents. On the roof, crews are continuing tile removal and preparing the tiles for off-site storage. An arborist will be brought in to assess the site’s existing trees and recommend protective measures during construction, and the City has begun coordinating with its Department of Information Technology to plan the installation of technological equipment needed for the Central Library.

Designed by architects Myron Hunt and H.C. Chambers and dedicated in 1927, the building was the first structure completed in Pasadena’s Civic Center and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It turns 100 in February 2027, midway through the work.

The Pasadena City Council approved Phase 2 of construction on March 2, awarding an amended contract to PCL Construction Services, Inc. not to exceed $186,186,155. Before it closed, the library served more than 1,000 visitors daily and hosted more than 1,100 community events and meetings a year, according to city records. Its nearly 300,000-item collection is now spread among nine branch locations and off-site storage.

McDonald called the building “one of Pasadena’s great equalizers — a place where generations have learned, gathered, and grown together” at a groundbreaking ceremony in December.

More information on the project is available at cityofpasadena.net/library/central-library-earthquake-retrofit.

The next phase calls for crews to drill thousands of holes into the original 1927 concrete and epoxy in new steel, tying the old structure to its new reinforcement. The City says the library remains on track to reopen in 2028.