Building Is Demolished 2 Years After Quake

Officially, it was known as the General Medical and Surgical Building, a six-story structure that towered for decades over the sprawling Sepulveda Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

To those who worked there and for many of the patients treated within its brick walls, however, it was just Building 3.

Everyone was evicted, however, on Jan. 17, 1994, when the Northridge earthquake struck before dawn, severely damaging the facility.

On Tuesday, more than two years after the quake brought an end to acute care at the North Hills site, workers arrived to begin the slow process of demolishing the 41-year-old building.

Staff members said their goodbyes at a brief ceremony. But they said they are looking forward to Building 3’s replacement, a three-story outpatient facility now under construction.