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California Tower to close most of the year for earthquake upgrades

Built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, the California Tower opened for public tours in 2015. It had been closed to the public since 1935.
(Misael Virgen/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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Next month Balboa Park’s California Tower will close to the public for an extended period as city and museum officials seek to better guard the structure against potential earthquake damage.

The tower, part of the Museum of Man, is expected to be closed for seven to 10 months starting on Feb. 18, when the city will start its seismic retrofit, which includes improvements based on the latest building codes. The upgrades will cost around $5.7 million, with a bulk of the funding supplied by the city and $1 million provided by a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, a spokesperson for the city said.

A landmark attraction, the California Tower was originally built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and was closed to the public in 1935. Eighty years later, and after $750,000 in improvements, the tower reopened on Jan. 1, 2015, with the museum allowing guided climbs up eight tower floors to a public viewing deck 357 feet above sea level.

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Once construction starts, tours will be on hiatus. The Museum of Man will continue with its regular tour schedule — from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily — through Feb. 17. Visitors can purchase tickets, which cost $23 a piece, at CaliforniaTower.org or at the museum.

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jennifer.vangrove@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1840 Twitter: @jbruin