Every roof tile on Pasadena’s Central Library is 99 years old, and all of them have been removed by hand, inventoried and put in storage. They go back on in 2028.
The City Council approved a revised guaranteed maximum price of $186,186,155 with PCL Construction Services in March 2026, moving the Central Library retrofit into full construction. Voters authorized $195 million in general obligation bonds under Measure PL in November 2024. The building has been closed since May 2021, when the city concluded its unreinforced masonry couldn’t be occupied safely.
Project Scope
Myron Hunt and H.C. Chambers designed the library in 1927 as the first building of Pasadena’s Civic Center, and it’s on the National Register. The retrofit has to hold that intact while replacing essentially everything behind it. Scope covers seismic strengthening of the unreinforced masonry, structural improvements throughout, complete MEP replacement, accessibility upgrades, demolition of the lower basement concrete, and excavation for new foundations.
Gruen Associates is the design lead. PCL was brought on in July 2025 for preconstruction and selective demolition, then negotiated the Phase 2 GMP. As of mid-2026 the building is scaffolded, tiles are off, basement demolition and soil excavation are underway, and low-carbon concrete is specified for the structural work. A mayor-appointed technical oversight committee including Pasadena Heritage, Caltech and the AIA reviews the work. Substantial completion is set for July 2028.
Why It Matters
California has been chasing its unreinforced masonry inventory since 1986, and the buildings still standing are the hard ones: civic landmarks with historic designations, where the cheap answer of demolition isn’t available and the retrofit has to satisfy both a structural engineer and a preservation review. $186 million for 120,000 square feet works out to more than $1,500 a foot, which is what that combination costs.
The roof tile handling is the detail worth remembering. Removing, cataloguing and storing 99-year-old clay for a two-year reinstallation is a line item most estimators would underprice, and it’s typical of what historic seismic work actually involves once you get past the shear walls.
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Project Team & Details
| Owner / Client | City of Pasadena |
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| Architect | Gruen Associates |
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| General Contractor | PCL Construction Services, Inc. |
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| Status | Under Construction |
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| Delivery Method | CMAR |
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| Funding Source | Public (Municipal) |
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