By Beach Building Services addressed safety concerns by upgrading Long Beach State’s psychology building for the first time since it was built in the 1960s.
The focus of the project was to improve the outside of the building, which was showing signs of wear, according to Mark Zakhour, director of construction services.
“Over the last 60 years, the exterior … the windows mostly, and the metal that surrounds [them] have deteriorated,” Zakhour said. “We had a window crack last year … it was getting to the point where something had to be done because we felt safety was becoming an issue.”
The school received $7.2 million in state funds for upgrades that Sherry Span, professor and chair of the psychology department, said was “absolutely necessary.”
“A colleague of mine had dropped some papers off of his desk and discovered that part of a sheet of paper was sticking outside of the building,” Span said. “There was a space at the bottom of his large window. Additionally, cracks developed along the front wall where it met the floor under the windows, and some people could see outside.”
Zakhour said the funding allowed construction services to “peel the face off the building” and resurface its look.
The glass and frames of the windows were replaced and the building’s exterior was repainted. The stairwell on the east side of the building was known to flood on rainy days and was reconstructed to prevent further incidents.
Zakhour said there was a surplus of funds after renovations and construction services decided to upgrade the interior of the building as well.
“Our team that worked on the project were able to find really innovative ways of approaching the cycle of construction,” Zakhour said. “There were really innovative ways of how to use the cranes and the sequence we put the windows in, and we were able to actually save money in construction.”
New lights have been installed in the corridors and deteriorated drywall was replaced inside the building. The faculty offices received new flooring and fresh paint as well, Zakhour said.
Construction services will be adding new carpet and repainting “a bunch of areas,” according to Zakhour.
There is currently no timeline for the completion of the upgrades.
