In 1971 the building suffered some damage during the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, which would spark some discussion on allocating funds to the aging building's safety and preparation for future earthquake preparations. During the late 1980s, the building was expected to receive some funding to prepare for future earthquakes, but as of 1986, work done to the Van Nuys City Hall was not to be completed until improvements were made to the Los Angeles City Hall first. While it was noted that improvements were needed to maintain safety and historical preservation, private and corporate donations were desired to make the improvements in a timely manner, but this stalling would only produce no major updates. Due to the building's proximity to the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, roughly $15 million in repairs and updates was seen as necessary in restoring the Valley building. While some practical work was completed immediately following the earthquake such as preventing additional tiles falling from services, retrofitting the building against future earthquakes would only be completed years later but would prepare the building for earthquakes as high as an 8.0 Richter scale. For about 10 years following the 1994 earthquake, city officials and local meetings were shifted into temporary locations while negotiations for building improvements lie mostly dormant or stalled. The Los Angeles City Council had not met from the earthquake's start until November 17, 2005 for a meeting after major improvements were finished. Parking would be added underground for roughly 300 spaces, updates to the plumbing and electrical systems inside, along with two large meeting rooms were being added to the City Hall for its 2005 reopening.