After Fire, Same Business Scramble

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES -The Dec. 8 fire in City West engulfed one of the two buildings in the under-construction Da Vinci apartment complex. While an investigation into the cause of the blaze continues, developer Geoff Palmer isnt the only one dealing with the repercussions of the devastation.

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The fire damaged the nearby building at 221 N. Figueroa St.as well. Although the 16-story city-owned property didnt go up in flames, intense heat blew out windows facing the conflagration and set off sprinklers inside the building.

The result is that a number of tenants in the building, including several city departments, have had to move, even as Angelenos demand that service continues as usual.

It was pretty crippling, said Mike Shull, general manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks, which had 150 employees on four floors of the building.

Other tenants in the building include the law firm Lewis Brisbois, and the citys departments of Animal Services and Aging.

Shull said his employees are now working at several locations, including City Hall and a service yard in Los Feliz. Some are even based at the rangers station in Griffith Park.

The department is gearing up to relocate scores of employees to the Garland Building on Seventh Street in City West, where the city secured a 60-day lease. If the clean-up and repair takes longer, said Shull, they may have to move again.

While that throws a wrench in operations, Shull notes it could have been worse. Although some computers sustained water damage, the servers were protected and copious records had been backed up electronically.

Its still very disruptive, Shull said. Many employees still are not connected; they dont have access to computers. Until were all reconnected, its not a very efficient way to work, but we are making do with what weve got.

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After Fire, Same Business Scramble