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The $37 million Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center renovation is nearly complete. When city offices are reinstalled in the 60-year-old building, employees will find a sunlit, airy and nearly earthquake-proof workplace. 

The two-year project cost about $10 million more than originally estimated but Public Works Director René Cardinaux said the building has been completely renewed.  

“Everything has been renovated and upgraded, there’s new data cabling, heating and plumbing, elevators and finishing,” Cardinaux said. “It is 100 percent 2001 technology and it still conveys its depression-era look.” 

In September 1999, the project was budgeted at $25 million, most of which was slated for earthquake retrofitting. As the renovations moved forward, the budget began to grow for the usual reasons such as temporary rental space for displaced city offices and unanticipated asbestos removal, Cardinaux said.  

The biggest budget increases were a result of unanticipated complications installing the 74 base isolators, which will stabilize the building in case of an earthquake, according to Cardinaux.  

The additional funds came mostly from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Cardinaux said the agency was originally scheduled to contribute $3 million for retrofitting the building. According to the most recent project accounting, FEMA granted $16 million to the city. 

Other funding sources included $16 million raised by the voter-approved bond Measure S, and $2.8 million from the city’s general fund. 

The weight of the building now rests on the flexible isolators. Each isolator is 30 inches in diameter and 30 inches high. They are comprised of alternating, quarter-inch layers of rubber and steel and are designed to absorb up to 40 percent of ground movement during an earthquake.  

Cardinaux said the building will sway 30 inches in any direction and then settle back into place.  

Even the stately stairway that leads to the main entrance of the building has been modified to withstand a major quake. The concrete stairway has the appearance of anchoring the building to solid ground. But on closer inspection, it is actually hovering about an inch above ground. Suspended from the building’s side, the stairway will sway without crumbling or splitting apart during a quake. 

The building had a total of 93,000 square feet prior to the renovation and after the work is complete will be approximately 76,000 square feet. The space was lost in the building’s basement, which was extensively redesigned to accommodate the base isolators. The addition of a sixth floor, which contains two meeting spaces, partially offset the loss of basement space. 

The office space, which was dark and sectioned off before the renovation, is now much brighter with natural light pouring into spacious open offices, according to one city employee. 

“This place used to be like a maze,” said contract compliance officer Lee Hightower. “Now there’s an openness and it doesn’t have the same cold feeling it used to have.” 

The move back into the building will be carried out in five highly organized phases. The first phase has already been accomplished, with the offices of the auditor and the Finance, Parks and Waterfront, and Public Works departments already back in the building. The final phase is scheduled to be completed Feb. 18. 

Parks and Waterfront Director Lisa Caronna, who is in the process of moving back into the Civic Center building, said she is glad to have her department’s administrative offices located in one office. “We’ve been getting set up (in our offices) between meetings,” she said. “I think it’s going to be great.” 

A ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for March 18.