Documentation of basement evidence of water intrusion from the south wall

ON MAY 31 while in the Social Hall, I noticed that there was cracking in a certain section of ceiling, and blistering paint and cracking on the wall near the ceiling. This water-damaged area is located below the south wall of the sanctuary. Presumably rainwater has run down from above. 

Is the damage evidence of leaking during this past winter? Or is it a holdover from before we had the south wall waterproofed last July? Unfortunately, I do not know the answer, because I did not think to take baseline photos in the basement at the time of the waterproofing project. (Live and learn!)

So now going forward, we need to monitor this area carefully after each rainstorm. Taking periodic photos and testing with a moisture meter would be advisable. And to that end, this post—below the jump—documents the present state of things.…

Ventilation and air conditioning in the rabbi’s office

OUR RABBI MAY WELL be the biggest beneficiary of the security windows that were installed in December. I’m not talking about protection from potential attacks. I mean on a more tangible, everyday basis!

(As usual, click/tap on an image to enlarge it.)

Below the jump, this post explains why I say so.…

Strategy for reviving the Social Hall (Speculation)

RECENTLY WE RECEIVED an insurance settlement to cover repairs to the basement spaces that were damaged by water from a defective fire sprinkler. Given that we not only want to fix the torn-up walls but also create a space that we can readily use (and even rent out), what steps should we now take toward reviving the Social Hall, and in what order? 

Below the jump, I sketch out an integrated approach—which represents my opinion alone. I am not speaking for Mishkon as a synagogue.…

Scope of work for concrete repair (Summer 2024)

BELOW THE JUMP, this post describes certain concrete-repair and waterproofing work that is needed due to water damage. 

Anti-corrosion primer applied during a repair to south wall in 2023.
(As usual, click/tap on an image to enlarge it.)

The following description is intended for the contractors whom I am asking to bid on the job.…

Color scheme for sanctuary façade walls

THE WATERPROOFING CONTRACTOR is being engaged mainly to coat the vertical wall surfaces. Painting certain other elements of the façade is incidental—but still necessary. (Otherwise, they will look bad by comparison.) 

(As usual, click/tap on an image to enlarge it.)

Below the jump, this post explains our intended schema. (It was updated on 7-31 from the original 6-17 post, following another on-site meeting of the color committee.)…

Color formula for the Half Hailstorm wall paint (rev. 8/2)

AS NOTED ELSEWHERE, I’m pursuing this color for the main walls, because it meets the project criteria, and it was the Color Committee’s first choice. 

According to Chris Williams, the owner of CertaPro of Santa Monica, who works with Sherwin-Williams paints, the color composition of Half Hailstorm is as follows…below the jump.

Exterior color schemes as proposed by the Ad-Hoc Color Committee

THIS POST RECORDS the color treatments for exterior walls, as proposed last summer by Roberta Tishman’s color committee, together with their consultant from Sydney Harbour Paint Company (SHP). 

The committee was given two criteria to guide its efforts: 

• the wall color must be as light as possible, so as to last as long as possible and need as little maintenance as possible; and 
• exploration should start with the light green that was original in 1948. 

The committee came up not only with a main wall color as requested, but also with a variety of accent colors, arranged in three related color schemes.

The colors mentioned are standard colors in the SHP palette. Our office has one set of 8"x8" swatches of most of them.

Below the jump, I record the committee’s recommendations, for posterity, while providing links to online swatches. (The color displayed will depend upon your device.)…

Fire safety and restoration efforts

As we begin to prepare for a (series of) rehabilitation projects in the sanctuary building’s basement, it’s worth thinking carefully about fire safety. Surely we wish to ensure that our plans will satisfy City officials. Furthermore, we also want to see that the construction work itself doesn’t start any fires.

Helpfully, a section of our Historic Structure Report (2003) is devoted to these topics. It quotes from two documents by the National Fire Protection Association, titled “Recommended Practice for Fire Protection in Historic Structures” and “Standard for the Protection of Cultural Resources Including…Places of Worship.” Below the jump, this post will share some highlights from that section.…

Historic marker is registered online

OUR HISTORIC SANCTUARY BUILDING has been entered into an international online database of historic markers. A nice page is devoted to our marker HERE on HMdb.org, which even gives its exact coordinates:

33° 59.879′ N, 118° 28.712′ W.

As for the rest of the content of the page about our marker, some of it is taken directly from the City’s plaque (which the write-up calls a “historic marker”)that we mounted on the sanctuary’s outside wall in 2021.

Mostly, however, it is taken from our poster (which the write-up calls an “interpretive sign”) inside our marquee sign, titled An Anchor for Venice / Ocean Park. 

In short, this website relates our history in terms that we ourselves have defined.

By the way, our marker has lots of company on that website. The Historic Marker Database currently lists such markers in 105 nations, including a total of 11,602 in California and 197,362 in the Unites States.

Accessibility versus historic preservation

ONE OF THE QUESTIONS that came up during a recent planning tour of the premises was: “How is Mishkon expected to trade off the competing considerations between making the building more accessible to mobility-challenged persons and preserving it as a historic-cultural monument? What do the relevant laws, codes, and preservation guidelines tell us?”

 

When questions like this arise, I consult the Historic Structure Report (“HSR”; 2003), because that is exactly what an HSR is for. As the National Park Service noted in 1991, “Historic Structure Reports are reference documents for the purpose of minimizing the loss of significant [historic] fabric during restoration or rehabilitation work.” 

Below the jump, this post summarizes what our HSR has to say on the matter.