About the author  ⁄ Nik Blanchette, P.E.

Nik Blanchette is an Engineer with ZFA Structural Engineers in Santa Rosa, CA. (nikb@zfa.com).

Historic Alameda High School Retrofit

Part 2: Preserving Historic Value, Providing Modern Seismic Safety

A California public school campus constructed in 1924, partially retro fitted in 1936, recognized as a historic place in 1977, vacated shortly after that in 1978, partially retrofitted again in 1989, shuttered in 2012, was brought back to life in 2018. For a brief history of the Historic Alameda High School campus and the state government regulations setting seismic safety standards for public school buildings in California, see Part 1 of this article series in the January 2022 issue of STRUCTURE.

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Mar, 2022 By , and In Feature Comments 0

Historic Alameda High School Retrofit

Part 1: Too Valuable to Demolish, Too Expensive to Retrofit

In 2012, the Alameda Unified School District in Alameda, California, made the difficult decision to fence off and vacate all three historic classroom buildings on the Historic Alameda High School (HAHS) campus due to seismic safety deficiencies. These buildings and the attached auditorium, lobby, gym, and locker room buildings had stood since 1924. However, the classroom buildings lacked approval under California’s Field & Garrison Acts, putting the school district at legal risk (and any building occupants at life safety risk). The long process to rehabilitate and restore these nearly century-old buildings had entered its final chapter.

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Jan, 2022 By , and In Feature Comments 0
STRUCTURE magazine