Not since the 1994 Northridge earthquake will one event have such an effect on the construction industry in Los Angeles.

But the latest boon for building contractors was not a natural disaster it was voter approval of the $2.4 billion Proposition BB school bond measure, which experts say could breathe new life into L.A.’s construction industry.

It’s the largest school bond measure in the nation’s history, with a Detroit bond running a distant second at $1.5 billion.

“All kinds of contractors will be doing all kinds of business,” said John Hakel, executive director of Associated General Contractors, a construction trade group, and a member of Proposition BB’s oversight committee. “I look at this as a tremendous boon for all facets of the construction industry.”

But it’s not just the $2.4 billion measure for repairing and modernizing schools within the L.A. Unified School District that has sent contractors scrambling to get a piece of the pie. Voters in a slew of other L.A. County cities also passed measures for their school districts in 1997, adding another $439.5 million to be spent on the construction and renovation of local public schools. Included among those measures are a $186 million bond for Glendale Unified School District and a $112.5 million bond for Burbank Unified School District.

The school-bond bonanza is the latest in several public-sector projects that have pumped billions of dollars into the local economy in recent years. Among the biggest of those has been Metro Rail, on which the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to spend $2.4 billion over the next five years. Other major public-sector projects include huge expansions of the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, proposed expansions of the Burbank and Los Angeles airports, and infrastructure work at Playa Vista.

The public-sector windfall has been crucial to sustaining the local contstruction industry, which has seen precious little private-sector work in the 1990s.

“Employment in construction in L.A. County in ’96 was down about 1,200 jobs,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for L.A. County’s Economic Development Corp. “So far this year, it’s been flat, sitting there doing nothing. This type of injection of money will create jobs in construction. It’s not going to send it rocketing off, but it will be a nice stimulus to the construction industry.”

And the construction industry is not the only part of the L.A.-area economy that stands to benefit, say experts.

Esmael Adibi, director of Chapman University’s Anderson Center for Economic Research, estimates that every $1 million spent to construct or renovate local schools will actually become $2.5 million to $2.8 million in the economy through a chain reaction of indirect spending. In other words, the workers who receive the initial $1 million will then turn around and spend the money on goods and services they need, creating at least $2.5 million of activity as it ripples through the economy. So LAUSD’s $2.4 billion expenditure will bring a $6 billion boost to the economy, said Adibi.

The first ripples of the economic effects of LAUSD’s April 8 bond measure are already being felt.

According to LAUSD bond office officials, 589 of the 10,836 projects planned for the district ranging from installing air conditioning to security bars on windows are underway. Those 589 projects have a combined value of $182.5 million. Another 381 projects have been approved by the school board, but actual work on those projects has not yet begun, LAUSD officials said.

Steve Soboroff, chairman of Proposition BB’s oversight committee, estimated that about 80 percent of the $2.4 billion will be spent over the next five years.

Proposition BB projects began within days of the measure’s passage because the district had already lined up jobs pending the bond’s approval, said Beth Louargand, general manager for the district’s facilities services division.

“We did some pre-planning,” she said. “We’re now working on an advance from the district’s general cash flow. The first (bond) issue will be $350 million (to be issued) over the summer.”

Louargand estimates that the largest chunk of bond money $600 million will go toward repairing schools. Air conditioning will take up $200 million, and $325 million will go toward wiring schools for computers, intercoms and burglar and fire alarms.

One of the first businesses to benefit from the Proposition BB’s passage was Hercules Painting and Decorating Inc. The Van Nuys-based company, which was pre-qualified to work on LAUSD projects, was awarded a $40,000 painting contract immediately after Proposition BB was passed. The company is now in the process of obtaining a $225,000 contract, said owner George Stavarif.

Stavarif estimates that, just due to Proposition BB contracts alone, the company may double its 30-employee work force and increase its annual revenues by 50 percent within the next five to seven years. Its current annual revenues are $2 million.

“We were ecstatic just like every other construction contractor,” said Stavarif, describing his reaction to the bond’s passage. But Stavarif adds that his excitement has been somewhat tempered. “(The school district) had said that they would come out with four or five (contracts to be bid on) each week,” he said. “But they’re at around one BB job a week, if that many.”

Frank Thometz Architect is another early beneficiary of Proposition BB money. The four-person Silver Lake-based company has started on two projects designing air conditioning systems that will earn it an estimated $50,000. Owner Frank Thometz hopes to get additional business under Proposition BB and recently hired another employee to handle the business he has received so far.

These two companies are the types of contractors the school district is looking for, said Ruth Hobbs, manager at 3D/International Inc.-O’Brien Kreitzberg Inc., a joint venture chosen as Proposition BB’s program manager.

“We will provide the opportunity for local contractors at all levels to participate in the program,” said Hobbs. To do this, the LAUSD plans to prepare small projects for bidding rather than assigning large blocks of work to large contractors, said Hobbs.

This method should also confine the work to L.A.-area contractors. “Most (projects) will not be big enough to bring in any one from New York,” said Hobbs.

This approach may leave big organizations such as the Energy Alliance out in the cold. The alliance a coalition of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Energy Pacific, a L.A.-based joint venture between affiliates of Pacific Enterprises and Enova Corp. has submitted a proposal for installing and maintaining air conditioning systems in 301 schools at a cost of about $192 million.

Much of the work under the contract would be doled out to smaller local contractors, said Michael Dochterman, Energy Alliance’s program manager. “We are a local participant and we want to keep L.A.’s money and L.A.’s jobs in L.A.,” he said.

Hobbs, however, does not sound optimistic about the Alliance’s chances. While she says the proposal is still being evaluated, she adds that it appears the alliance would simply be providing the same role as one of the 10 project management firms already selected.