McIntosh building to be retrofitted

The Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake and the countless aftershocks that followed prompted Cal State Long Beach to take precautions to ensure that its buildings are earthquake safe.

One precautionary measure that is being undertaken is the retrofitting of the McIntosh Humanities Building - the tallest building on campus.

"Sometime ago, there was a ranking of CSULB buildings to be studied (for earthquake safety)," said Toni Beron, CSULB spokeswoman. At this time, Beron said, "employee concerns for the (McIntosh Humanities Building) were expressed."

The California State University's Seismic Review Board later classified the McIntosh Humanities Building among those structures with the highest risk in terms of seismic safety and gave suggestions to bring it up to seismic safety standards.

The main problem was found to be in the building's foundation which consists of four support columns. These will be retrofitted first, taking an estimated two months to complete.

The $30,000 to $35,000 needed for the first stage of this project will come from pre-designated campus funds while ways to fund more extensive renovations are explored.

The McIntosh Humanities Building, which was designed in 1965 by the State Office of Architecture and Construction, has seven de partments.

The philosophy department's secretary, Pat Warren, works on the building's ninth floor about 45 hours a week.

"I'm grateful that the university will begin the retrofitting," Warren said. "They have a long way to go and I (would) hate to see the efforts stop here."

On the other hand, some occupants have become accustomed to the sways of the building on its four stilt-like columns.

Nick Rangel, a senior in speech communications and president of the CSULB debate team, said , "I work in the building two days a week. I've become so accustomed (to the earthquakes that) I imagine everyone feels the same way."