It’s starts with the Foundation!

Old City Hall (OCH) has seen its share of rumbles over the last 125 years, including a
few in the magnitude 5 range in the 1930’s and 1940’s as well as a 7.3 magnitude in
the Olympia area and the 6.8 magnitude that many of us remember as the Nisqually
quake in 2001. None of these have caused significant damage to the brick building
or heavy foundation that serves as the base. Since the next 200 years are as
important to its safety, our engineering team has undertaken the task of
determining the structural safety of the bricks and foundation.

To date, our team of engineers and architects have removed over 200 bricks,
individually, across 80 walls on 6 floors. This determines the cohesive strength of
the mortar and the porosity of the aged bricks. Keep in mind these bricks are >125
years old!
Furthermore, we are embarking on soil boring which determines the strength of the
foundation. The stones in many parts of the wall’s foundation are 8 feet across,
which is significantly more than other similar buildings. The OCH founders truly
made this Built to Last.

The foundation stones are composed of granite while the overlying limestones
were carved from a quarry in San Francisco. This quarry remains operational today
and we are returning to the site to purchase more stones as replacements for
several areas that need reinforcement. At OCH, we are making every effort to
maintain the historic significance in all areas of the building. Even deep beneath the
surface, as even foundations matter!