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LA Bureau of Engineering Completes Above-Ground Demolition of Parker Center

Posted on 07/15/2019
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Today, the City of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Engineering (Engineering) announced it has completed above-ground demolition of the Parker Center. Demolition of the 8-story building began in the Fall of 2018, as captured on this stunning new time lapse video.
 
The Parker Center, once home to the Los Angeles Police Department, is located across from City Hall on Los Angeles Street. It had been vacant since 2013.
 
“The removal of the Parker Center is a crucial first step in our proposed Civic Center Master Plan — a vision to redefine how our City conducts business, serves Angelenos, and encourages civic engagement,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “This milestone is a marker of progress in our effort to transform this space into a beautiful and welcoming resource for Angelenos, City employees, and visitors to Los Angeles.” 
 
The Parker Center, built in 1955, was closed in 2013 after studies showed it to be seismically deficient. The City explored the possibility of renovating the building, however studies showed it to be operationally obsolete, not code-compliant and vulnerable to safety and structural deficiencies. It also had hazardous materials and building components needed substantial upgrades.

“Our primary concern throughout demolition of this structure has been to limit the impact on the surrounding community and on the environment,” said Gary Lee Moore, City Engineer. “It’s not a small thing to take down a building of this size in a highly-trafficked area, so we worked closely with the community to assess their needs and concerns and used the highest standards of low-impact methods to deconstruct the building.”

Demolition included the environmentally-responsible, floor-by-floor removal of the hazardous materials, followed by the deconstruction of the building, foundations, and the utility tunnels. Engineering also relocated the remaining utilities and installed duct banks in adjacent streets to bundle and protect buried cables for electrical, fiber optics, and other uses.

Per the Environmental Impact Report, Engineering saved important artwork from the building. In addition, some of the original architectural components of the building were removed and stored to be displayed elsewhere, including signage, lights and other features.
 
The site will be home to a new building, the Los Angeles Street Civic Building, which will house hundreds of City employees that are currently in more remote locations and in rental space.

The final piece of the demolition is the below-ground structure, which will be completed by the end of 2019. Demolition has been conducted by the contractor Silverado, Inc., with the support of the Bureau of Contract Administration.
 
For more information on demolition and the Civic Center project, watch this video interviewwith Gary Lee Moore, City Engineer, which also includes a time lapse video of the building's deconstruction. For more Civic Center master planning information, visit www.civiccenterprojects.lacity.org.