Downpours Delay Midnight Mission Project

Deluge of Rain Pushes Completion Back 1 Month

About 15 in. of rain in a two-week period flooded the downtown Los Angeles site. The $17 million Midnight Mission center, which will provide a variety of services for the area's homeless population, is scheduled to open next month. A number of contractors, consultants and suppliers have donated materials and services.

By Kathy Lee Scott

The record-setting rainfall that drenched Southern California in December and January delayed by about a month the completion of the new Midnight Mission center in Los Angeles.

Dave Shaeffer, project manager with Snyder Langston, the general contractor for the $17 million project at Sixth and San Pedro streets in downtown Los Angeles, said the 100,000-sq.-ft. structure will be completed at the end of the month. About 15 in. of rain fell in a two-week period, flooding the site and causing construction to be halted.

The 100,000-sq.-ft. complex is at Sixth and San Pedro streets in downtown Los Angeles (photo by Paul Napolitano).

The three-story structure will expand the operating space for the staff by three times, said Larry Adamson, President of the Midnight Mission.

The Midnight Mission, a non-profit organization supported entirely by contributions from the general public, is dedicated to providing a vehicle for the residents of Skid Row to get back to mainstream life.

Synder Langston and several subcontractors have made approximately $1 million of in-kind and material donations. Additionally, the Costa Mesa office of Trammell Crow Residential contributed $300,000 in material and labor, finishing 14 transitional apartments on the third floor of the building.

The steel-columned, concrete-walled structure, designed by Los Angeles-based Gin Wong Associates, features smooth and split-face concrete masonry units. A 28,000-sq.-ft. subterranean parking garage will include laundry and computer rooms.

Adamson said the Midnight Mission saved 10 percent of its roofing costs by using sprayed polyurethane foam instead of traditional asphalt shingle or metal roofing material.

"It made sense after hearing about its advantages," Adamson added. "Most important was a 20-year guarantee on the roof's life."

Orange-based CentiMark Corp. sprayed the foam, a process that cut two weeks from the original schedule.

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"The polyurethane foam insulates better-lowering heating bills, plus it adheres to any mounted equipment and the substrate, eliminating the need for flashing," said Alex Stewart, CentiMark's project manager.

"It solves a lot of problems, too," he added. "It's seamless shape prevents water leaks, it will not sag or pack down and it withstands a building's normal expansion and contraction."

To protect the expanded foam from ultraviolet degradation, CentiMark applied a final reflective, elastomeric coating. "Midnight Mission will only need to renew the coating in 20 years," Stewart added.

The site's Skid Row location has made safety of passersby a major concern. At times, some of the area's homeless population entered the construction site, which created a potential health issue, Shaeffer said. Moreover, one mentally ill man began attacking a piece of equipment, said Gin Wong's Emilio Schlabitz.

"But as soon as the fences went up and the security guards were hired, it was fine," Schlabitz added.