The Theme Building is a 50-year old cultural and historic landmark that resembles a space ship landed in the center of LAX’s passenger terminal area. This distinctive white building has undergone three years of repairs and renovations. The officials announced that the building’s Observation Deck will be reopened to the public on weekends beginning July 10, 2010.
The futuristic structure was in an urgent need of repair after a stucco slab fell from one of the upper arches and crashed into the structure’s main platform on February 24, 2007. The renovation included a unique seismic retrofit and complete reconstruction of the façade of the upper and lower arches. The construction team faced challenges as major alterations were not permitted on the structure as it is a city cultural and historic monument. The building also needed to comply with the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
To avoid changing the appearance of the structure with overt reinforcement, the Theme Building has been retrofitted with a tuned mass damper (TMD) to counteract earthquake movements. A new engineering design for the arch system stucco and framing was created. New fans were installed to blow air up to the arches and out from a centrally located vent on the pinnacle of the arches, to keep the structure moisture-free.
The TMD will absorb violent motion caused by an earthquake by counterbalancing harmonic vibrations of its own. Installing the steel weight at the top of the building allowed the original, historic look of the building to be preserved. Being one of the first of its kind in the US, this innovative installation of the TMD was considered the most difficult and intricate part of the restoration project.
The project team included CSA Constructors for demolition and abatement, Tower General Contractors for reconstruction, Gin Wong Associates for architectural design services, VCA for engineering, MARRS for construction scheduling, Miyamoto International for seismic engineering design with seismic testing performed by University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA’s) Network Earthquake Engineering Simulation program.
A separate contract to refurbish the night-time lighting system is expected to be awarded soon and the lighting program restored by late 2010.
The observation level of the Theme Building was closed for security reasons after the September 11 attacks. New security measures will be in place when the Observation Deck reopens, including inspection of personal belongings before visitors enter the nonstop elevator for a quick ride from the lobby to the Observation Deck.
