Berkeley SOSIP
Produced by the
Preservation Institute
Replacing the State Health Dept Building
For me, there is a strong symbolic resonance to replacing a modernist highrise with a fine-grained urban fabric of walkable streets. It is a rejection of modernist urbanism that reminds me of the demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project, shown above. But it is even better, because the modernist urbanism is being replaced by an urban fabric created in a piecemeal way, like traditional urban fabrics.
Replacing the State Health Department Building
This page will record the demolition of the State Health Department Building in downtown Berkeley, CA, and the construction of buildings to replace it.
The State Health Department Building was constructed in the 1950s. In the 1990s, the state found that is was not economically feasible to retain the building, because of the cost of upgrading it seismically and replacing its HVAC system. It became vacant in 2006.
UC Berkeley had first right to use this surplus state site. When demolition is complete, UC will construct the Helios Energy Research Facility and a small park on the eastern portion of the site. When funding is available, UC will construct a new community health campus on the western portion of the site. At the request of Berkeley residents, UC is providing a pedestrian street between these two portions of the site, which will connect the parts of Walnut St. that are north and south of the site..
January, 2010: The building is shielded with cloth so asbestos can be removed
March 22, 2010: Demolition has begun. Windows have been removed on the north side.
March 25, 2010: Cloth is coming down and windows are being removed on the south side.
April 20, 2010: The north wing comes down.
May 4, 2010: The eastern end of the main structure comes down.
May 15, 2010: All structures on the eastern end of the site have been demolished, so you can see buildings on the campus beyond the site.
May 31, 2010: The main portion of the structure is coming down, exposing the steel skeleton under the concrete.
June 16, 2010: The main portion of the structure is almost half down.
June 26, 2010: Removing the upper floors.
June 29, 2010: Removing more of the upper floors.
July 3, 2010: All that's left is a little stub of the building and a big pile of rubble.
More photographs will follow as rebuilding proceeds.
