La Jolla VA Hospital Retrofit

The Veterns Administration (VA) hospital in La Jolla next to UCSD is under going "Earthquake Retrofitting". Massive columns and beams are being added to the hospital building's structure. The hospital is open for business during the retrofit with people going in and out and the parking lots being full.

The seismic corrections on Building No. 1 at the VA Medical Center in San Diego, were funded in
the amount of $47,100,000:
http://www.house.gov/hensarling/rsc/doc/Lb52002.pdf
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.04514

The $52.2 million contract with Clark Construction of Costa Mesa, California started in November 2005.
http://www.pugetsound.med.va.gov/opa/
pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1040

Building 1 is an 855,000-square-foot, 6-story cruciform structure that was built in 1970. The original design included 8 stair towers along the exterior of the building. These towers serve as structural connections and support for the building. The seismic retrofit design required removal and replacement of the existing structurally deficient stair towers to meet today’s stricter seismic building codes.
http://www.andersondrilling.com/Projects_Detail.aspx?pProjectId=61