<Benicia Clock Tower Seismic Retrofit

Historic Preservation / Seismic Retrofit / Architectural Design

Benicia Clock Tower Seismic Retrofit

LOCATION
Benicia, California

TYPE
Community Center/Library | Landmarks | Recreational Facilities/Areas

The Benicia Clock Tower is two-story, 20,000 sf unreinforced stone masonry structure originally constructed as a U.S. Army arsenal in 1857. It presently serves as a community assembly hall. The City of Benicia retained Interactive Resources to provide a structural engineering analysis of the historic tower and to design comprehensive plans and specifications for a complete seismic upgrade of the building. Seismic retrofitting of the structure required sensitivity to its historic nature and extensive technical analysis of sandstone restoration techniques.

Architectural services were also provided for the restoration of the clock tower’s twenty-eight wood windows, originally installed in 1912, which shown a significant amount of deterioration. The window restoration project and the structural work followed The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings. Interactive Resources provided these services to assist the City in receiving the proper approvals from the California State Office of Historic Preservation (SOHP) for work on the structure.

© 1989 Ann Marie Harmon
Attribution-NoDerivs 
CC BY-ND
© 1989 Ann Marie Harmon
© 1989 Ann Marie Harmon

117 Park Place • Point Richmond, CA • 94801 •  • info@intres.com • 510-236-7435