Views and Access to San Diego Bay Improve with Completion of South Campus Demolition

Tuesday, 18 September 2007

Port of San Diego project in Chula Vista removed 61 structures

If you regularly travel south on Interstate 5 towards Chula Vista, you may notice something different if you look off to the western horizon by the H Street exit. Gone are the old industrial buildings with boarded up windows that haven’t been used in years. Replacing the 61 buildings is an 83-acre open piece of land that is a vital component of the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan.

The buildings belonged to the former Goodrich South Campus and became part of a 1999 relocation agreement between the Port of San Diego, Rohr Industries, operating as Goodrich, the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Chula Vista and the City of Chula Vista. The agreement provided for a series of land transactions that delivered to the Port the consolidated, 83-acre parcel of property with redevelopment potential.

In Sept. 2005, the Port of San Diego began the first phase of the South Campus demolition project. In that phase, 18 structures were razed. TEG/LVI Environmental Services was the contractor for the project, which was completed at a cost of $952,587. Along with the removal of the buildings, this phase entailed the removal of utilities, installation of storm water pollution prevention equipment and removal of hazardous building materials. About 86% of reusable materials were recycled in this phase.

Phase 2 of the demolition project began in April 2006 and included the removal of 28 buildings. The cost of this phase was $709,450 and the contractor was CST Environmental, Inc. As in the first phase, abatement work on hazardous materials was performed, and 92% of the materials were recycled.

The Port and the City of Chula Vista held a joint celebration in May 2007 to kick off the third phase of the demolition project. At $3.6 million, this was the most expensive portion. Miller Environmental Inc. was the contractor and the project resulted in the removal of the last 15 buildings, which totaled 220,000 square feet. In addition, hazardous materials were removed along with the utilities and joint trenches beneath the H Street corridor, where five buildings stood. Foundation slabs from these buildings were also removed to make way for the future reconstruction of H Street. Eventually H Street will provide direct access to the waterfront. Approximately 88% of reusable materials were recycled during this phase.

The South Campus demolition project not only improved the aesthetics of an area cluttered with worn structures containing hazardous materials, it now frees up valuable land for the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan. The plan is a joint project between the Port and the City of Chula Vista and will include a mixture of land uses.

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