Marquis Publications Releases Napa Valley Earthquake Damaged Buildings Examined in Updated Photographic Edition

Vallejo, CA, March 08, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Marquis Publications, a division of the Marquis Gallery has released “Five Months of Renovation After The 2014 Napa Earthquake.” The eBook edition is author/photographer Marques Vickers' third photographic chronicle of damage and ongoing reparations from the August 24, 2014 Napa Valley Earthquake. Beginning from the day following the earthquake, Vickers has photographed on three occasions the most affected historical buildings in the city’s historic core. His edition, featuring over 215+ images provides a comparative time sequence view documenting the restoration process once the initial global media circus has vacated the town.

“Restoration lacks dramatic intensity. The current stages of repair and renovation is a slow arduous process often lacking immediate visual evidence,” notes Vickers in his preface. “Developers, financiers, building and business owners, government officials and residents must cope with the inconveniences and inefficiencies that a natural disaster imposes. Minute and larger scale victories will gradually and certainly arrive over time.”

Among the profiled buildings are the Alexandria and Andaz Hotels, Franklin Post Office, Sam Kee Laundry, First Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, Winship-Smernes, Napa Law Center, Goodman Library, First National Bank, Napa Firefighters Museum and pending ambitious Napa Center retail complex. Detailed commentary is included on their origins, history and local significance. An additional section focuses on the Browns Valley neighborhood damage.

Vickers preface summarizes the complexities involved with a collective Herculean restoration, “There are permits, meticulous inspections and bureaucratic approvals to secure with each incremental move forward. Federal Disaster fund applications are pending and rarely in synch with immediate out-of-pocket expenses necessary to pay contractor and laborer invoices. Business operations remain disrupted but have essentially returned to normal. Normal however has been redefined. Cataclysmic events mandate change and adaptation. The city’s downtown was already evolving pre-quake and now is forced to redefine its present and longer-term future.”

“The collective goal for all participating parties is to complete the reconstruction process the right way but financial constraints often influence and dictate the extent. Idealistically, retrofitting each structure properly should prepare historically constructed buildings adequately for the future. However, who could have fathomed a 6.0 magnitude earthquake on a dormant and previously undetected faultline? No one. How does one anticipate catastrophe? More appropriately, how does one reassemble Humpty Dumpty once he has fallen and splattered indiscriminately?”

“For the majority of the historical buildings constructed at the juncture of the 19th and 20th centuries, retrofitting is a solution which has proven to preserve masonry framework. However it cannot reinforce century-old mortar, which loosened, crumbled and sprayed errantly. Adhering to the laws of gravity, formerly attached stone masonry and bricks followed.”

Future editions will continue to document “completed and fully renovated properties meriting the identical international reputation the region has cultivated through its wine industry”.

“Five Months of Renovation After The 2014 Napa Earthquake” is available exclusively in ebook format through Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook online stores. An accompanying video is available on YouTube.com and Vimeo.com. California based Marquis Publishing specializes in electronic and paperback book editions distributed through major online sales websites and InsiderSeriesBooks.com. Vickers is the author of numerous books on fine arts, the regional auction industry, crime, southern France and photo image editions.