VALENCIA : Quake-Damaged CalArts Campus Officially Reopens
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The California Institute of the Arts officially reopened its campus Friday after the completion of almost $30 million in earthquake repairs.
Construction crews finished work in time for the beginning of the fall academic term last week, and a celebration was held Friday to mark the reopening and 25th anniversary of the art school, founded by Walt Disney.
“It’s been done in a phenomenal period of time,” spokeswoman Anita Bonnell said. “The school has really been refinished, refurbished, and we’re up and running.”
In the Jan. 17 earthquake, walls and ceilings collapsed, floors buckled and the heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems were destroyed. During reconstruction, workers also had to remove asbestos while they were replacing ceilings.
The disaster displaced CalArts’ 1,000 students, sending them to alternative classrooms and studios dispersed throughout the area, including some as far as Pasadena.
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