by Garth Meyer
In 1931, workers chiseled out pockets for the sash ropes of the window frames with a hand-cranked auger bit.
Ninety-five years later, a Public Works crew used an electric router, which was faster and cleaner, to install replacement windows at the Historic Redondo Beach Library.
When windows in a registered Historic Building need replacement, the law requires the same, precise type to be used. At the old Redondo Beach Library in Veterans Park, now being prepared to re-open this summer as an event space with a new operator, the windows were the first major project.
Double-hung frames of the same construction had to be found, and someone had to do the intricate work to place them.
After considering contractors, the city went in-house.
Mike Klein, Redondo Beach Public Works deputy director of operations, led a six-man Pier maintenance crew for the eight month-project. With a budget of $200,000, Public Works installed the new windows, 56 openings in total.
“It was an innovative process to use our own staff in this kind of craftsmanship, which we don’t get to do very often,” Redondo Beach Public Works Director Andy Winje said. “It was a feel-good project for us for sure, enabling our guys to learn some new skills.”
The work began last July, interspersed with the crew’s regular maintenance duties for the Pier area. The job was completed in March.
“We had guys who, number one, had the carpentry skills, and number two, could follow directions,” Klein said. “And the willingness to be patient and learn. Historic windows take a lot of patience.”
Klein has an extensive carpentry background, from his early career working on older homes in Pasadena, including the Tournament of Roses House (now an office).
To get the proper windows for the local library, he first traced the 1931 originals with a pencil on drafting paper, to show the correct arch and outlay. Klein then sent the tracings to manufacturer T.M. Cobb, in Riverside, who custom-made new single-pane with wood sash windows to meet the Historic requirements.
Once the replacement windows arrived, the library crew took down an old one, and fitted a new window to the outer frame in the existing openings. Then they put the old window back up and lowered the new one to a shop set up on site in the library. The crew then used planers and routers to machine each new window frame to fit into the outer frames lining the existing openings, down to the centimeters’ difference for each.
After that, the workers sanded each frame, primed it, sanded it again and painted it twice.
Finally, they took down the old window for the last time and installed the new one.
Klein made a door-hanging table at home for the crew to clamp in the windows to work on them.
None of the crew had ever been part of a historic preservation project.
Klein also made templates at the Public Works shop for the workers to follow with routers and cut recesses to insert the sash ropes that raise and lower the windows.
“Every single window was like its own project,” said crewmember Jonathan Monroy.
“You had to make sure you didn’t sand too much,” said Saxwell Vukcevic, the painter.
“You can’t put wood back,” explained Chris King, Pier and Waterfront maintenance manager, who oversaw the crew.
“Or plane it too much,” said Vukcevic in explaining if a frame fits too tightly into an outer frame, the window won’t slide up and down freely.
It was also key to get the widths correct while being as weather-proof as possible. To allow the frames to slide up and down, the workers used felt instead of beeswax. The smooth felt also makes the frame more durable.
The outer frames in the building were original Douglas Fir, all of which stayed in place, though the old lead counterweights had to be taken out and reinstalled – to be re-tied to the new sash ropes threaded through replacement pulleys, which were ordered from a Florida firm that specializes in historic hardware.
“It took a lot of research to find parts,” Klein said.
The windows cost $107,000, plus another $10,000 to $15,000 in historically accurate brass pulleys and latches, window catches and chain window stays.
“We re-used hardware where we could,” Klein said.
The old window frames “looked to me like Douglas Fir too,” he said. “This was old growth, you could tell. Old growth is such a straight, tighter grain.”
The new frames were made of Acoya wood.
“Douglas Fir is so expensive,” Klein said.
The rope pulleys keep a window from slamming closed.
“It was challenging and fun,” Klein said of the project. “It brought back a lot of experience I had, and I was teaching our guys to enhance their trade skills.”
The old frames are now in storage.
What will become of them?
“Not sure yet,” Klein said. “That’s a decision for another day. Some were just shards of glass that we got rid of.”
The full crew included Humberto Conrique, Jorge Garcia, Roberto Avila, Jonathan Monroy and Saxwell Vukcevic. Monroy, Conrique and Garcia are building maintenance workers; Avila is a Pier lead worker.
Klein has worked for the city for 20 years.
Most of the upper windows in the library were still original from 1931, though a few had been replaced over the decades.
When taking them down, some parts of the frames came loose, and the workers used tape to hold the panes of glass in place.
The crew did not break a single new window during the project.
Three of the original windows were in good-enough condition to leave in place.
“You gotta pass it on, you gotta teach,” Klein said. “In all the Public Works divisions, whether street or concrete or sewer, I want the older guys to be teaching the younger guys what they know. I’m very much a believer in the journeyman-apprentice system.” ER
SIDEBAR:
Operator Made By Meg is completely renovating the Redondo Beach Historic Library’s kitchen, remodeling restrooms, painting the interior and laying in new carpet.
The outside was power-washed April 30, with exterior paint to come. The outdoor cafe will open on the west cement sometime in 2027.
The first private event at the library is booked for July 18 and first community event is July 24, for which the library will be serving food and drinks inside before Shakespeare in the Park.
On July 23 is a ticketed comedy show. A grand re-opening will be held, though no date has yet been announced.
For more information, go to Redondobeachhistoriclibrary.com ER
