The AOC Never Paints Itself Into a Corner

The Architect of the Capitol's Legislative and Public Affairs (LPA) team often tasks me with providing project updates for our Tholos magazine. If you're a frequent reader of this publication you are aware I try to include a fun metaphor or throw in a few jokes (I throw in a lot, but LPA wisely edits the bad ones out). Every time I start writing the articles, the pressure of how to make the article fun and entertaining stops me in my tracks. As someone whose main tool is a keyboard and not a brush, I've done an amazing job of painting myself into a corner.

The same is not true for the numerous trades of the Capitol Building jurisdiction working on the Second Floor Plaster and Paint Repairs, which started in the spring of 2022. If you have not had the opportunity to roam the halls on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol before June 2022, the plaster from the north, south and west corridors (adjacent to the Senate Chamber) was delaminating, which means its top layer was beginning to separate from the subsurface, causing cracks to appear and sections of plaster to fall.

This project's purpose was to repair the plaster in these areas and repaint; however, it is not as simple as it sounds. The project team had to consider corridor width limitations, hazardous materials, other workers, Senate sessions, etc. and that makes improvisation nearly impossible. This endeavor requires an in-depth plan to determine all the requirements, prepare documents, develop a budget, acquire funding, award contracts and create a schedule.

Historic artwork and furniture were moved out of the corridors during the restoration work and returned once the area was finished.

Before starting the main scope of plaster repair and repainting, a contractor was hired to temporarily relocate second floor historical artwork, including a Daniel Webster painting, several vice presidential busts, benches and the Ohio Clock, which has stood in the Senate halls since 1859. Additionally, the Capitol Building jurisdiction took the opportunity to remove and refurbish 10 chandeliers in the areas where scaffolding was used. The repainting was not as simple as covering the Capitol Dome with Dome White paint. A team including representatives from the Office of the Senate Curator, the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) Curator Division, the AOC's Historic Preservation Officer and Capitol Superintendent's Office as well as paint conservators had to complete a paint analysis to be used as a road map on how the space has been decorated since the Senate Wing Extension opened in the 1850s.

Architect Marty Shore, who provided information on the paint analysis for this article, states that, "the report researched 19th- and 20th-century archival documents such as Annual Reports of the Architect of the United States Capitol, receipts of paint and photographs of that era for any clues to the corridor's entire paint history. High-powered microscopes were used to determine when each of the paint layers were applied. The report provided a summary that organized the paint schemes into five periods of time."

The five different time periods included:

• Period 1: 1851–1865, after the north extension was constructed but before the earliest complete decorative painting scheme was installed
• Period 2: 1865–1896, when the earliest known decorative painting scheme was in place
• Period 3: 1897–1904, a short period of time when the corridor was finished in a simplified version of the earlier decorative painting scheme
• Period 4: 1904 – early 20th century, the first campaign of nondecorative finishes phase of the corridor began sometime around 1904. The paint finishes of this period represent the first complete set of preserved finishes on all architectural elements studied
• Period 5: early 20th century to present, this period includes succeeding finishes, all nondecorative, after Period 4

The scheme selected by all parties is a modern interpretation of the Period 2 1865–1896 color scheme.

Along with the scaffold, lifts were used to reach portions of the work.

Larry Sizemore of the Capitol Building jurisdiction stated, "During preplanning we identified the multiple trades, including the Carpentry Division, Electrical Division, HVAC Division, Insulation Division, Mason Division and Paint Division that needed to be choreographed with one another throughout the project's schedule to make it cohesive and simple. A major challenge was scheduling the scaffold installation during times that would not interfere with the Senate while in session. The team was able to complete the majority of this during six different recesses (the covered walkways were built during each phase of the project) because of how well the contractors and in-house trade shops worked together."

The scaffolding design had to serve the needs of four different trades during the project, requiring a huge, coordinated effort. After a contractor erected the scaffolding and the Carpentry Shop built the covered pedestrian walkway, the in-house Insulation Shop used containment areas to abate the lead paint on the corridor walls and ceilings. The Mason Shop then used the scaffolding to replaster the areas and then ceded the area to allow the Paint Shop to apply the decorative paint.

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Decorative Plasterer Raymond Andrew applies new plaster to replace the older, delaminated version.

A covered pedestrian walkway was needed so building occupants and visitors could safely pass through the work areas. This was also a more complex walkway compared to some others in that it required drywall, lighting and fire alarm devices, including a smoke detector so that the area would remain code compliant.

As the phases progressed, the team got better and faster at completing the work even when the employees had to work in tighter corridors, while still maintaining a 44-inch passage width for egress and accessibility. With the scaffolding in place limiting access to the lower portions of the corridor walls, areas below the scaffolding deck could not be reached and were addressed after the scaffolding was removed. Basically, the team had to visit each area twice, performing abatement, plaster repair and painting on the upper portions of each area while the scaffold permitted accessibility and then revisited the lower portions of the area once the scaffolding was removed.

As I prepare to submit this article the project team is close to completing* the sixth and final phase of the project and will move on to minor paint touch up and detail work. Members of the media are gleefully tweeting that the Ohio Clock and benches are back in the corridor. I know I am not painting the project team into a corner by saying work is anticipated being fully complete this summer — this team is always working in each other's corner, not because they were painted into one.

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Editor's Note:
*LPA is pleased to once again edit this article to confirm the author’s prediction was correct and this area of the project is now complete.