CSUN Gets $61 Million for Quake Repairs

NORTHRIDGE —  Promising to put an end to months of delays and squabbles, Cal State Northridge officials said Thursday they are ready to launch the final phase of earthquake repairs on the battered campus with the award of an additional $61 million in federal recovery funds.

In an elaborate ceremony, CSUN President Blenda Wilson joined officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to announce that nearly $9 million in repairs on three major buildings are due to start within several weeks. All campus repairs are due for completion within 18 to 24 months, she added.

“Today it is CSUN’s time to shine. This is a message we want to share with everyone on campus and in our larger community,” Wilson said. She unveiled a new CSUN recovery motto--”Time to Shine”--that aides said is intended to mark a break from the lull in repairs that has plagued the campus for most of this school year.

Nearly a year ago, Wilson complained that mounting bureaucratic delays were threatening to stall the campus’ recovery from the January 1994 earthquake. FEMA officials then blamed the campus for the delays, saying it was not providing information quickly enough about the progress of repairs. But Thursday, officials said those disputes were resolved.

“We’re dedicated as an agency to see this recovery process through to completion,” said Leland Wilson, FEMA’s top official for the Northridge earthquake project. “FEMA will not leave until the last temporary classroom is taken off of the campus,” he said, referring to hundreds of modular classrooms that still take the place of closed CSUN buildings.

“The reason the money is forthcoming now in these large sums is that FEMA has confidence in the university’s management that the taxpayers’ funds will be used wisely,” said Art Elbert, CSUN’s vice president for administration and finance, who walked Wilson, the FEMA official, over to a crowd of reporters so he could enthusiastically agree.

The campus’ total repair bill is still expected to reach about $300 million. Campus officials said they have now received approvals for about $246 million of $270 million in expected FEMA recovery funds. The remaining $30 million or so would come from the state, of which the campus has already received about $13 million, Elbert said.

Between the newly funded earthquake repair projects and a new $22-million utility plant and piping system about to break ground, CSUN spokesman Bruce Erickson said, the campus will be bustling with construction this summer. “This place is going to look like a rodeo--lots of dust and heavy vehicles,” he said.

Within the coming month, seismic repairs are scheduled to begin on three major buildings that have remained closed since the earthquake: Sierra Tower, one of the largest faculty office buildings; Jerome Richfield Hall, one of the largest classroom complexes; and the engineering building. All three are slated for occupancy by the start of the fall 1997 semester, officials said.

Repairs on the closed wings of the Oviatt Library are scheduled to begin by late summer, and those to the administration building are set to start by October, with completion for both projects expected in December 1997.

All the repairs also give the campus the opportunity to solve a variety of utility, communications and asbestos problems, Blenda Wilson said. CSUN will emerge, she said, “among the most modern, safest and thoroughly up-to-date campuses in the nation.”

The announcements had been scheduled for last week, but were delayed because of the possibility that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was in Los Angeles on Thursday, might attend. She did not, instead attending the dedication of a new homeless youth shelter in Hollywood. But White House aide John Emerson came instead and urged the campus to “keep on building.”

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Where the Money Goes

Federal officials approved $61 million Thursday to continue earthquake repairs at Cal State Northridge. The following work is scheduled:

Sierra Tower faculty offices: $2.3 million in repairs are expected to be completed by fall 1997.

Jerome Richfield Hall classrooms: More than $1 million in repairs are to be completed by fall 1997.

Engineering building: $5.4 million in repairs to be completed by fall 1997.

University Student Union: $500,000 worth of roof and structural repairs to be completed during the fall 1996 semester.

Oviatt Library wings: $3.7 million in repairs expected to be completed by December 1997.

Administration building: $6.2 million in repairs to be completed by December 1997.

South library: Fate awaiting outcome of structural engineering review.

Fine Arts building: Fate awaiting outcome of structural engineering review and presence of dangerous materials.

Source: Cal State Northridge