City Hall Project- Overview

CITY HALL SEISMIC UPGRADE AND REHABILITATION PROJECT

Pasadena City Hall was built in 1927 to inspire a city with beauty, boldness and vision. It is an important part of this community’s rich architectural heritage.

In 2003, the City Council approved a plan for the seismic retrofit, historic restoration and infrastructure improvements to ensure that Pasadena City Hall will continue to stand proud and serve the community for another 100 years.

Seismic retrofit of the building included the installation of structural base isolators that now allow the building to withstand future earthquake activity.  Restoration activities were undertaken to  preserve many of the historic architectural elements of City Hall, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. New building infrastructure was installed due to severe demands placed on the building over the past 79 years resulting from the piecemeal addition of heating, air conditioning, and technology systems

Because of the city's commitment to environmental sustainability, the City Council required the building to be certified with the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED^®) standards at a Base certification level.   In fact, at conclusion, the project achieved enough LEED^® credits to be certified at the GOLD Level, a particularly noteworthy achievement for a historic structure! Project Summary.  For more information click here on City News.

.An interesting fact: all of the building's plumbing was original!  For more information on the City Hall building, see History and Architecture.

The building was closed in July 2004.  Following construction, staff moved back to City hall starting in April 2007, and the move was completed in July 2007.

Building construction started in March 2005  was completed, nearly two months ahead of the originally project schedule.   Clark Construction Group - California LP served as the General Contractor for the project.   For detailed construction-related  information see Construction.  To view project photographs showing City Hall's construction progress from beginning to end, click on Photographs.

The project was monitored by the City Hall Restoration Oversight Committee a group of citizens with professional experience in fields related to the project.  The Committee met once a month throughout the duration and made project-related recommendations to the Pasadena City Council.  The Committee was sunset by City Council in January 2008, following final completion of the project.

 
City Hall Souvenirs Price List (PDF - 207.3 KB )

Part of the overall project budget included fund-raising activities. As part of the fund-raising program, a full line of souvenir products were offered to the community. City Hall souvenirs are currently available for purchase in the City's Public Affairs Office at City Hall, 2nd floor Room S220.  Souvenirs include: t-shirts, tote bags, cloisonné pins, snow globes, key chains, posters, mugs, tiles, postcards, magnets and holiday ornaments.
 

Awards:

Following completion, the City Hall project has been the recipient of numerous awards see grantsAwardsFundraising