"Thrilled and relieved" was the reaction of Riverside City Councilwoman Joy Defenbaugh when crews from CST Environmental, Inc. recently began de-malling the 46-year-old Riverside Plaza Shopping Center in the city's Magnolia District. Renovation of the 474,000-square-foot mall is expected to cost $58 million and includes demolishing almost three-quarters of Riverside's first shopping center built in 1957.

(Pictured left) Ernesto Estrada using a CAT 235 Excavator with processor attachment dismantling building section at the Riverside Plaza Shopping Center.

The actual demolition of the mall was delayed until May when the Riverside Redevelopment Agency sold the old Montgomery Ward parcel to mall developer Westminster Central, LLC. The agency used eminent domain to buy the land from Gracal Corporation consolidating ownership of the 34-acre site and allowing CST Environmental to begin razing buildings. Basically, the only remaining structure will be the Harris/Gottschalks Department Store.

Riverside's Deputy City Manager Michael Beck indicated in a memo to the City Council that the cost of acquiring the Wards parcel so demolition could commence, came in at about $1.6 million. Westminster covered the costs associated with the purchase of the building and parking area.

CST's Project Manager Pat Hussey reports that the demolition will be completed in three phases. Phase one has been finished and it involved asbestos removal. CST is currently working on phase two demolishing major portions of the mall including the Montgomery Ward building. Altogether, more than 450,000 square feet of the mall will be razed.

(Above L to R) CST's Project Manager, Pat Hussey with Demolition Superintendent, Frank Toste.

"There may be a delay in starting phase three," Hussey reports, "because Trader Joe's and Sav-On must exit the main building before we can complete the project." Trader Joe's is anticipating moving into its new store at Merrill and Riverside Avenue's on or before August 1. Sav-On will occupy its new location on the same corner sometime in November.

CST Environmental currently has three operators and two laborers on the Riverside Plaza project. "Our superintendent is Frank Toste and he's utilizing a Caterpillar 973 track loader, a Caterpillar 235 excavator and a Hitachi 400 excavator using concrete processing attachments," Hussey revealed. "We also have our own refueling station on-site."

(Above left) Frank Toste of CST Environmental Inc. using a CAT 973 Loader with a 4in 1 Bucket, preparing steel for recycling at the Riverside Plaza. (Above right) Ernesto Estrada using a CAT 235 to process concrete material and remove steel rebar at the Riverside Plaza in Riverside, California.

"Once we clear the structures," he continued, "we'll bring in an on-site crusher to make a Class 2 concrete material base." Hussey explained that concrete debris from the demolished buildings would be used as a base course for the new parking areas. Dirt from the remaining areas will be used to fill the basements. "We don't anticipate having to import dirt to fill all the voids on the site."

Hussey revealed that CST Environmental typically recycles about 80 percent of the material on a project. "At Riverside Plaza," he continued, "we'll be recycling all the steel with the majority of it going to Adams Steel based in Anaheim. We use a bunch of vendors but just like when we need to rent a specialty piece of equipment or attachment, we try to utilize local outlets.

"We haven't encountered anything special in Riverside," Hussey noted. "We're one of the largest demolition and asbestos abatement companies in the United States and Riverside Plaza is a typical job for us." Hussey did praise the efforts of Riverside Public Utilities for "getting their utilities out of the way and terminated for us." Meanwhile, Lyle Parks Jr. (LPJ) has moved in site manager Roy Vineyard to work on re-routing utilities and bring in new services for current out building construction projects and advance work for new phases of the project.

Demolition of Riverside Plaza had an added benefit for the Riverside Fire Department. Three days during the demolition process firefighters were allowed to conduct a module of Structural Collapse Technician (SCT) training called "Breaching & Breaking." The department's mandatory training started at nearby Station 3 and moved to the Riverside Plaza site for the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) training. The Riverside Fire Department has been designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as one of 28 USAR Task Forces spread throughout the continental United States trained and equipped by FEMA to handle structural collapse.

(Pictured left) CAT 235 demolishing part of the Riverside Plaza and segragating demolition debris.

The so-called "new" Riverside Plaza will combine a new big box power center with an open-air retail and entertainment main street that will connect to a multi-screen theater complex. The Plaza's 37-year-old Vons supermarket closed May 3 and a new 24,000 square foot Vons is scheduled to open in 2004.

Bill Goltermann, Construction Manager for Litchfield Advisors, helped assemble the redevelopment team. "A private street will run through the center of the project and we'll locate businesses on both sides of Riverside Plaza Drive including the theater complex," he stated.

Jim Carlson, vice president of marketing for LPJ, indicated that CST Environmental won the Riverside Plaza demolition project on a competitive bid basis. "Several of the out buildings including restaurants and a service station are not impacted by demolition or the redevelopment project," Carlson said. "It's essentially a whole use change for the site."

Lyle Parks Jr., Inc., based in Anaheim Hills, is the general contractor on the Riverside Plaza reincarnation project. Tom Middleton is the project manager. For additional information call (714) 632-3210 or visit the company's website at www.lpj.com.

CST Environmental's work a couple of years ago to demolish the 4.5 million square foot Northrop Grumman facility in Pico Rivera gained national media exposure. The former Ford manufacturing facility had been converted by Northrop for production of the B-2 Stealth bomber. CST was praised for recycling about 85 percent of the materials on the project including about four million square feet of asphalt that CST pulverized on site and approximately 300,000 tons of concrete. The media also reported CST's on-time completion after the firm brought in 35-40 pieces of heavy equipment and about 100 employees to tackle the project.

(Above left) Eagle concrete crusher being set-up for concrete crushing to recycle materials on the jobsite. (Above right) Bobcat 863 with grapple attachment removing electrical wiring from debris for recycling.

"We're just now in the final stages of demolishing a half million square foot complex in Tustin," Hussey said. "It's the former manufacturing plant owned by Steel Case Furniture." CST also is working on an $110,550 demolition project for the City of Ontario. The Ontario Council awarded the bid January 21 for CST crews to demolish and clear residential structures on 14 City-owned properties.

CST Environmental Inc. was founded in 1988. The Southern California office is located at 404 North Berry Street in Brea. CST offers a wide variety of turnkey demolition and hazardous remediation services, including lead abatement and asbestos. Call (714) 672-3500 for more information about CST.