Seismic Upgrade and Historic Refurbishment
The Wilshire Boulevard Temple project involved the seismic upgrade and historic refurbishment of the Main Temple Structure, originally constructed in 1929 and the upgrades of the historic school building, also constructed in 1929 and the addition to the school building constructed in 1962.
The Wilshire Boulevard Temple Sanctuary was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. As such all of the environmental remediation design and construction activities had to be performed in accordance with the Secretary of Interior’s standards for rehabilitation as found in Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, 36 CFR Part 66 in the July 12, 1995 Federal Register (Volume 60 No. 133).
Vista was retained by Wilshire Boulevard Temple to perform a comprehensive hazardous materials survey of these Historic structures (totaling 525,000 square feet) and upon completion Vista was then required to develop a hazardous materials bidding package, specification and comprehensive hazardous materials remediation drawings, while continuing to comply with the standards for the rehabilitation for historic structures.
A unique aspect of this project was that the entire exterior of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple and the 1929 School Building were coated with an asbestos-containing paint. As part of the historic refurbishment, it was required that coating be completely removed in order for a new, original color coating, to be applied to the structure. Because of the identification of exterior asbestos, and the requirement to remove the coating, Vista, in working directly with the regulatory agencies, developed an exterior, open air removal process to assist in reducing the time to perform the abatement while meeting all regulatory requirements including written approval from the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Particular to this project, Vista was also required to manage the remediation contractor on behalf of the Owner and take responsibility for any and all environmental activities and compliance for the project duration. This included excavation and remediation of all identified environmental hazards.
There is also a new construction phase of this project that involves the construction of a new multi-level parking garage adjacent to the school structures. Vista has been performing on-going perimeter and site specific air monitoring and documentation of dust levels to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and provide additional documentation for WBT and their staff and students.
This project currently continues with on-going upgrades to the school structures and is being performed while students and teachers are attending classes. Vista continues with our proactive management of the environmental remediation process.
For the duration of this project, spanning nearly 3 years, there has not been a single regulatory violation or notice to comply issued by any governing agency to Vista or the remediation contractors under the management of Vista.