INTERVIEWS
|
Scott
Allen
RDG Bussard Dikis Inc.
|
JACK
SHEPARD INTERVIEWS SCOTT ALLEN FOR STORY ON IOWA STATE CAPITOL
RENOVATION.
Interviewed February 14, 2000
JACK
SHEPARD: What are the most difficult parts of your job in
the restoration of the Capitol?
SCOTT
ALLEN: It's the unusual things. I think I know what the day's
going to be like and a few phone calls later, I'm up on some scaffolding
looking at stone. It's really what makes this project interesting.
What makes architecture real interesting is that you don't have
the same thing day to day. I'm not in the office on a day to day
basis. I spend a lot of time on site.
JACK
SHEPARD: So you're on the site a lot. And you're up on the
scaffolding. You're with the painters; you're with the plumbers?
SCOTT
ALLEN: We like to be on site because it's always a learning
process for us. We think we know what the building is constructed
of through the existing drawings and our research, but until they
open up that wall, until they open up that section of floor, we're
never a hundred percent sure. So we have very close communication
with the contractors.
JACK
SHEPARD: Can you remember a particular surprise you can tell
me about?
SCOTT
ALLEN: We were trying to determine how to get from one side
of the Capitol to the other side of the Capitol. We were in the
crawl space underneath the Senate with some piping. We needed
to be south of that, so we needed to bring piping from underneath
the Senate floor to the corner pavilion in the Senate. We had
a little bit of a void in between. Our drawings showed that there
potentially could be a space there. We weren't sure if it was
solid because the floor lines just didn't quite match up. So we
took a little trip with the contractor underneath the floor of
the Senate. We broke through one of the walls and found a room
that you could actually stand up in. And it was fully painted.
Evidently they lowered the ceiling at one point in time, but it
provided a great route for the sprinkler piping to go right on
through that space. We sealed it up after we were through.
JACK
SHEPARD: So you found a room nobody knew about? So you came
back to the office to get the eraser out?
SCOTT
ALLEN: That's right. You come back and make those changes
and move right along, so it's kind of fun.
JACK
SHEPARD: That room has to have electrical wiring going to
outlets and plumbing and probably all kinds of things that you
didn't know.
SCOTT
ALLEN: It wasn't a room that was ever used. It never had any
real access. So it didn't have any electrical, but it did have
painted walls.
JACK
SHEPARD: How about particular problems working on a building
that was built so long ago?
SCOTT
ALLEN: There's an incredible amount of drawings of this building.
The historical building has been a great source for those drawings.
We take those drawings and compare that to what we actually have
today, before our construction, before our renovation and in most
cases is entirely different. Walls are not necessarily there.
Rooms have changed. If you think about the process that they used
in the 1880s, a lot of those drawings were destroyed by the time
the building was done. They used those drawings on a day-to-day
basis. They just wore 'em out. So the drawings that were saved
were schemes or options that were never completed.
A
good example would be when we first started one of the phases.
We thought we had maybe six different ways the structure could
be orientated. We really didn't know which one we were going to
choose. So we made some test openings in the ceilings, and we
were able to determine that there was actually a seventh scheme.
But it gave us enough insight to check those areas in advance
before the contractor would be there.
A
large amount of drawings did exist of the building, but it takes
some investigation to find which one we should really be using
and which one is accurate. And we measure each space before construction
starts so that we have an accurate drawing. With computing, you
can change that as you find out more information.
JACK
SHEPARD: A lot of drawings that you've made you've done from
photographs. You have your own drawings, and you based those on
some actual photographs?
SCOTT
ALLEN: Yeah, a lot of the exterior work is done using a photographic
process that aligns the film of the camera parallel to the building
itself, so that both those surfaces are parallel, which gives
you the opportunity to scale that. What that means is you can
clearly at some point on that façade, take a scale and
mark out the number of feet that wall would be in length.
JACK
SHEPARD: Every building really is one of a kind, but maybe
this one is more one of a kind.
SCOTT
ALLEN: Yeah, we think we know the building sometimes. Then
as we move on to the next portion or the next phase, we find another
floor system or another way that they've done the same type of
detail. So it's constant checking and verification of the existing
conditions as you uncover them. From one side of the building,
things will look very closely the same; structurally they were
done two different ways.
JACK
SHEPARD: Maybe they were learning better methods, or was it
just a different crew?
SCOTT
ALLEN: There was some talk about two different crews being
on site. I don't really have a verification of that. But I think
when you have that scale of a project, you have different people
working on it. They maybe found a better way to do it and achieve
the same goal in the end.
JACK
SHEPARD: How about the special steps you're taking to make
sure that what you're doing is consistent with what's already
there? I know there are lots of steps involved in that.
SCOTT
ALLEN: Some of the steps we take for consistency in the building
starts at our research. We try to document through pictures what
was in a particular room at a given moment in time. So that starts
us thinking of design dates. We have an 1884 design date and a
1904 design date. The second one is because of the fire that occurred
in 1904. The spaces were affected by that. So we use those photographs
and onsite investigation to find those details -- for instance
the stencil color. We wouldn't know what those colors were through
the black and white photograph. We would only find those on site.
But we'd see a pattern that would match up to the photographs
and that would be our clue that we had the correct date.
JACK
SHEPARD: So the photographs have been clues to a lot of different
things?
SCOTT
ALLEN: Yes, we were actually able to read some of the calendars
on the wall in some of the photographs to determine the month
and year the photograph was taken. We used those for the light
fixtures in documenting what was there in 1884. We used the contracts
that were associated with those light fixtures to document what
was there and the style and if it was equal to another room in
the building. We have a complete contract on the light fixtures
that were purchased in 1884. So if we know what the light fixture
type in one room was, and have a photograph of that, we've got
a real good idea that that type was then consistent throughout
the building. In some of those cases where we don't have any photographs,
it gives us a real good insight on what that light fixture would
have been. We do that for draperies too. We know there are roller
shades that were originally in the building on the first floor.
It gives us a good idea of what that looked like, so we were able
to reproduce that.
JACK
SHEPARD: How about patterns of carpeting?
SCOTT
ALLEN: That's a great one. And that's a good story because
we have patterns of carpet showing up on the photographs. But
it's hard to tell exactly what those colors were because it's
a black and white photograph. We actually uncovered a piece of
1884 carpet underneath a cabinet. So we took that carpet and sent
it to a laboratory and had them check the color of the yarn. They're
now making that color of carpet to match what the design and border
was. So that was really a unique find. We typically don't find
that because the carpet's been removed and thrown away many years
ago. But through the photographic process, we knew that there
was a carpet there, and we knew the date because on the back of
the carpet it had the date. The fabricator was only in business
for so many years and so it was really unique to find a 2 by 7-foot
piece of carpet.
JACK
SHEPARD: So sometimes it's almost guess work?
SCOTT
ALLEN: It is when you get to the carpet for instance because
the photographs are all black and white. We know that we're in
the 1880s, and we know what typical carpets were available at
that time. Through a pattern book, we're able to make a better
determination on what that color would have been. Most of the
carpets in that time period really didn't have a lot of different
colors like we see now. A carpet was typically one color, maybe
two.
JACK
SHEPARD: How does having an understanding of history help
you?
SCOTT
ALLEN: I took a lot of classes in history when I was in college.
I took about every history class I could take. It's been really
fun to learn about history. I think you continue to learn about
history. I started thinking about some of the photographs that
we're finding on site. For instance, the sheet metal workers had
some family photographs of people on the site. I came back and
asked my family if we had any photographs. They weren't sure when.
And we don't know who exactly, but later we found my great grandmother
right next to the building in a photograph around 1905. That's
how we find photographs. We find post cards and old photographs
of a family.
JACK
SHEPARD: A lot of things have to happen to keep this a functional
building while all this is going on, don't they?
SCOTT
ALLEN: Yeah. A lot of people ask, "Why don't you just do the
whole building all at once?" Well, it's more than a museum. It
is a functioning building in that it functions as the Governor's
office, Secretary of State's office, and so on. They need to have
an office, and they need to operate on a daily basis. So, we relocate
people and find a temporary home for them while the construction
is going on.
JACK
SHEPARD: It's a lot of planning.
SCOTT
ALLEN: We start with how many dollars are associated with
the project. We then see how far that'll take us in the building.
We help determine how much funding would be necessary for the
next piece of work; then the legislative branch reacts to that.
We then build the project around that dollar amount, taking into
account the relocation of those people involved in that area.
They need a temporary work surface and work stations.
JACK
SHEPARD: Some people might say there's got to be easier, quicker
and cheaper ways of getting this done.
SCOTT
ALLEN: I think we've been pretty good. We first started this
project thinking that it would be a fire protection project, installing
a sprinkler system in the building. We then started doing a little
bit more research in what we needed to do for the building long
term. We determined that it'd be more efficient and better use
of tax dollars if we opened up a wall once, closed it back in,
and put everything in there that we could think of that needed
to go in that space. So, we try to do all that project at one
time. And we think we're pretty efficient in doing that type of
project.
JACK
SHEPARD: The way the project was brought to your company in
the beginning was, "The Capitol needs some restoration. Can you
guys take a look at it and see what you think needs to be done?"
Basically, it wasn't "we need fire protection" and then everything
mushroomed on top of that?
SCOTT
ALLEN: No it was a two-pronged approach. The first one in
'82, asked for a study on what could be done on the exterior stone.
That generated additional studies and reports, which then evolved
into the exterior restoration. On the interior project, in 1992,
the Fire Marshal requested that the General Services take a look
at the Capitol building from a life safety standpoint. So a task
force was put together, which then arrived at a set of goals for
what needed to be done in the building. That was the beginning
of the interior rehabilitation.
JACK
SHEPARD: Could you tell me about the interior gutter and the
channeling system?
SCOTT
ALLEN: When we first came into the Capitol building in '81
and '82 in the attic spaces, there was quite a bit of water coming
into the building. There were existing gutters, like a residential
gutter you'd see on the side of a house. They were used as an
attempt to channel the water away from the wall surface. So that
means water was coming through a wall about three feet thick or
coming in at the very top of the wall, or at the copper as it
interfaced with the stone. But it was coming into the building,
and they were trying to have some mechanism to get it to a drain.
There was plaster deterioration. Masonry was deteriorated because
of the water. That's why we did some of the backup brick replacement.
JACK
SHEPARD: I imagine you realized that there was a more serious
water problem than maybe anybody had known?
SCOTT
ALLEN: When we first started tearing off the copper we realized
very quickly that there was water involved. And we took measures
to correct that through a little different detailing of the copper.
JACK
SHEPARD: Do you feel any different working on this building
because it is the Capitol of your home state?
SCOTT
ALLEN: You've got to feel special working on this building
because it's so unique. You probably won't get another building
like this in anyone's lifetime. I really feel proud to be part
of the restoration team and to be able to work on this building.
I think that really transfers down to everybody that works on
the building in our office. We have a real love for the project,
a real passion for the restoration of the building. And we're
always trying to think about what is the best thing for the building.
JACK
SHEPARD: We've seen a number of places where people have signed
their work. Are you going to do anything like that?
SCOTT
ALLEN: My name's on a lot of that paperwork, so I don't think
anybody will forget who worked on the building in the late part
of the 20th century. Everybody knows who the original
architect was and so this should be intertwined in the history.
We have a large amount of files that are archived for this building.
We've got an incredibly large amount of paperwork that surrounds
this building. It all has the company name somewhere on it, and
it typically has the person who was actually working on it. So
you sign your name enough during the day doing that type of thing.
You feel that you're a real part of the project in the future.
If you have a typical day, you come in, you think you're going
to do work on some drawings of an area of the building, and you
get a couple phone calls and the next thing you know you're climbing
on scaffolding or looking at the basement of the building or the
attic. And you never envision getting being there that day when
you got up, but it's where the job takes you.
JACK
SHEPARD: What's a typical day for you?
SCOTT
ALLEN: We typically deal with everything. It can be just a
metal casting that's missing on a door or hinge to talking about
how much money we'll eventually need in the future for the next
phase. That's why I don't have a typical day. For me during
construction there's a lot of work on Saturdays. I would turn
my phone on at six o'clock in the morning. I usually expect a
call about six thirty before I leave the office. That will tell
me that I need to stop at the Capitol before I go into the office.
So, I'll stop there for about an hour or an hour and a half, working
through a detail that's really important for that day. I stop
in the office and do my phone calls and answer messages. Typically
around three o'clock is when the contractors are finished with
their day. I'll get a call around three so I'll stop up there
and probably walk the job a little bit after everybody's gone.
Then I come back to the office, and I get home at seven o'clock
at night. That's very typical during the construction time.
JACK
SHEPARD: Can you compare this to other projects?
SCOTT
ALLEN: I think you can. There are a lot of components in this
project that have been in other projects that I've done. Some
of the stone issues are the same for whatever building you're
working on that has a stone veneer of a foot to a foot and a half
thick. It was almost fate that led me to the Capitol. It's kind
of strange to think about the projects that I worked on and how
they prepared me to deal with the day-to-day occurrences at the
Capitol.
JACK
SHEPARD: In what way do you think this will shape your future
career? Do you look toward doing more historical restoration projects?
SCOTT
ALLEN: We really do wish to do more restoration projects.
We're currently doing work in Decorah, Iowa, but we're also doing
work out in Virginia. So we hope to do more projects throughout
the United States.
JACK
SHEPARD: In 25 years when you have grandchildren and you take
them to the Capitol, are you going to tell them the story about
how you worked on it? How will that feel?
SCOTT
ALLEN: It really makes me proud to be part of the state and
part of this project. It's amazing to think of. When I come into
town, I see the Capitol building because you can see it when you
come down the interstate or if you fly in. I always look to see
what it looks like at various times during the day. We all have
a lot of pride in that building.
JACK
SHEPARD: The restoration painters told us that the highest
compliment they received is when somebody comes up to them and
says, "Well, where'd you work here? I can't tell."
SCOTT
ALLEN: That's great. I love to have people come into the building
and say, "Well, they told me they put a fire sprinkler in there.
We didn't see it." If they say that, that'd be just great, because
we did a lot to try to conceal that so it wouldn't be as visible
as it could have been.
JACK
SHEPARD: And people say, "Oh big deal, a fire sprinkler system."
But you're talking about tearing into walls and doing major damage,
aren't you.
SCOTT
ALLEN: When we install a fire sprinkler system, it's basically
looking at routes from the basement of the building all the way
up through the building and planning those routes so the contractor
can install piping. It takes a great deal of planning in order
to do that and to conceal it. You could put it out in a room and
have exposed piping, but that's not what we want to do in this
building. We want to try to conceal everything we can. We're obviously
going to have a sprinkler head somewhere, but if we use the right
type, it'll have very minimal impact on the building. We do channel
walls and floors, but we repair that back with material very similar
to what was originally there so we're not harming the structural
capability of that wall. Then we re-plaster that wall and hopefully
it looks as it did in 1884.
JACK
SHEPARD: Can you talk about the quality of the original workmanship?
SCOTT
ALLEN: It's always amazing to see the detail that exists on
the building. I go up there many times during the week. I'll have
a few moments, and I'll look up, and it'll be the first time I'll
see detail. It's like there's so much to see. It's in such good
shape; it's just amazing. It's such a treasure for Iowa to have
intact -- and for the future generations to enjoy.
JACK
SHEPARD: The contractors that I've gotten to know show me
details of how the original workers did something. They can't
believe the original workers went to all this extra work to make
sure that this was quality. Is that shared among the people who
are working now?
SCOTT
ALLEN: I think if you look at the materials that they used,
they intended this building to be around for generations. And
that's the same philosophy we have today -- that we want to do
work and have our materials last for generations to come -- so
that we will not have to come back in a hundred years again and
replace the stone like we're doing right now. We chose material
this time that has a proven history and has the ability to withstand
many generations.
JACK
SHEPARD: What are your impressions of the quality of the construction
of this building.
SCOTT
ALLEN: We've had just an incredible amount of detail that
we find on a daily basis. It's still very well preserved, and
we're impressed with the quality. It's just incredible to work
on up here on a daily basis and see the detail in the plaster
and the detail in the marble. The carvings are just as well preserved
from almost the day that they were put in.
JACK
SHEPARD: Every effort is being made to restore that to its
original quality, isn't it?
SCOTT
ALLEN: Yes, I think it's important to make every effort to
restore it to its original quality, but we also try to keep as
much existing as we can. So we don't change just for the sake
of change. We keep the original fabric intact, and we only repair
where we really need to.
JACK
SHEPARD: How many more years do you think you'll be working
on it?
SCOTT
ALLEN: That's a hard one to predict.
JACK
SHEPARD: What are your impressions after you've been working
up here for ten to eleven years.
SCOTT
ALLEN: I've been working here on and off since about 1989.
I'm just surprised on a daily basis of the quality materials that
were used during the original construction. When we see the original
plaster right up close, when we're on top of the scaffolding,
it's just amazing to see the detail that was put into this building
in the 1880s. Also, the detail in the amount of marble and the
detail impresses me every day. I see something new every time
I come up here.
JACK
SHEPARD: Well, it's a tough job even with modern cranes and
modern equipment. It must have been a lot tougher back in the
late 1880s.
SCOTT
ALLEN: Everything is pretty much the same as it was in the
1880s. We do use modern equipment up here. The contractors use
cranes, of course. But if you look back in the photographs, in
the1880s, there were cranes of sorts that they used to lift the
stone in place. So some things have changed; but for the most
part, the stone was stored in the 1880s in about the same location
that it is today. I always like to look at that because you look
back at the historic photographs, and you see the stone laying
on the ground, and you go outside today, and you got the stone
laying on the ground in almost the same locations. That's kind
of a fun photograph to reflect back to.
JACK
SHEPARD: This is the monument that every Iowan identifies
with. It's common to every Iowan. How does that make you feel
that you're working on this project to restore its beauty?
SCOTT
ALLEN: I'm really thrilled to be able to work on this building.
It's just marvelous to be working in it. It's hard to put into
words. You come up here every day, but there's something different
every time you come. Every trip is a little different, and you
find a new fact -- or a new room even. This project has been a
large part of my life. Everybody up here takes a lot of pride
in what they do, and you see it in the craftsmanship on a daily
basis. We want to try to get it right. It has been a large part
of my career, and it will continue to be. But it's an important
project for everyone from Iowa.
