The Northern part of Algeria is considered to be the most active seismogenic area in the Western Mediterranean region. This area has a rich history of seismicity and had experienced many destructive earthquakes such as the Chlef (1954), El-Asnam (1980), Beni-Chograne (1994), An-Temouchent (1999) and recently Boumerdes (2003) earthquakes. The earthquake of An-Temouchent on December 22, 1999, was of magnitude 5.7, killed at least 28 people and made thousands of families homeless. Consequent damage was seen in all the structures located in a radius of 30 km. In the city of El-Maleh, located 12 km northeast of An-Temouchent, the “The National Bank Branch” of El-Maleh suffered moderate damage, but enough to justify questions about its safety. The project of rehabilitating this building required a broad analysis of its static and dynamic, past and present behaviors. The study reported in this paper was a necessary preliminary step toward the development of an optimal retrofit solution. The Northern part of Algeria is considered to be the most active seismogenic area in the Western Mediterranean region. This area has a rich history of seismicity and had experienced many destructive earthquakes such as the Chlef (1954), El-Asnam (1980), Beni The earthquake of An-Temouchent on December 22, 1999, was of magnitude 5.7, killed at least 28 people and made thousands of Families homeless. Consequent damage was seen in all the structures located in a radius of 30 km. In the city of El-Maleh, located 12 km northeast of An-Temouchent, the “The National Bank Branch” of El- Maleh suffered moderate damage, but enough to justify questions about its safety. The project of rehabilitating this building required a broad analysis of its static and dynamic, past and present behaviors. The study reported in this paper was a necessary preliminary step toward the development of an optimal retrofit solu tion.