Courtyard's Glass Canopy Delayed
By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 25, 2005
When the Smithsonian Institution reopens the historic Old Patent Office Building next summer, the much-anticipated and controversial canopy over the internal courtyard will be missing.
The Smithsonian will install the glass roof in the winter of 2007, officials have confirmed. The delay happened principally because the decision to add the canopy came two years after the renovation began in 2001 and its construction is extremely complex, Smithsonian officials said. The Smithsonian also needs to raise the remaining $20 million of the estimated $50 million cost of the roof enclosure, which is being constructed with private funds.
One federal agency has even questioned the need for the enclosure, which was designed by architect Norman Foster, and an Interior Department review called it "a drastic alteration to this nationally significant historic building."
"While the Smithsonian may have the best of intentions, the project as now conceived and under construction diminishes and undermines this magnificent architectural icon and its prominent placement within the L'Enfant plan," John L. Nau III, the chairman of the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation wrote to Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small last week. The council, while recommending that the Smithsonian "abandon its plans to enclose the courtyard," acknowledged that it is probably too late to do so.
The members of the advisory panel say the Smithsonian hasn't done enough to address their concerns and, in another letter sent to the National Capitol Planning Commission, asked that influential body to reconsider its approval of the project. The council has advisory responsibilities but cannot enforce its recommendations.
In response, Small said that the Smithsonian is going ahead with the roof enclosure, has cooperated with all the historic review processes and has considered and incorporated many of the suggestions. The enclosure received a green light from Congress in 2003.
"While we have given careful consideration to your recommendation, we cannot accept it as it fails to meet our programmatic needs for the use of the building and we disagree with your conclusion that the enclosure diminishes and undermines the Patent Office Building," wrote Small.
"We have gone through the process point by point," said Sheila Burke, the deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the Smithsonian. "We have fully participated and have been responsive. We have taken great care to treat the building with respect."
The Patent Office Building is the third oldest civic structure in Washington, after the White House and Capitol. The Greek Revival building takes up two city blocks between Seventh and Ninth streets and F and G streets NW. Built between 1836 and 1867, the structure served as a federal office building for decades. Its grand halls were used by presidents for official functions. However, in the 1950s it was earmarked for demolition and a parking lot was planned for the site. After an outcry from preservationists, the building was transferred by Congress to the Smithsonian in 1962. Since 1968 it has been the home of the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
In 2000 the Smithsonian closed the museums and a year later embarked on a $216 million renovation of the structure, using both federal and private dollars. Congress has contributed $166 million for the main renovations. Burke said the total amount to be raised in private funds is $40 million to $50 million, depending on the extent of landscaping and final touches. The money would also cover a number of other enhancements beyond the renovation.
The two museums are scheduled to reopen in July 2006, and Burke said the need for more fundraising doesn't affect that schedule. "We will open on time and we don't need more money to open the building," she said.
The announcement of plans for the canopy drew considerable attention. Foster, the winner of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1999 and the designer for the Great Court at the British Museum and the reconstruction of the Reichstag, the German parliament building, was chosen in March 2004. Smithsonian officials have spent considerable time with the design team and have traveled to the manufacturing plant in Germany on the private plane of Robert Kogod, who donated $25 million last November to the effort.
Enclosing the courtyard, officials said, would provide a year-round use for public and private events. It will be one of the largest social spaces in Washington.
From the beginning, the project has raised concerns among preservationists. Review of this project went as high as the Secretary of the Interior's office and included the State Preservation Office of D.C., the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capitol Planning Commission and the Committee of 100 of the Federal City.
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation staff report says the Smithsonian rejected most suggestions for changes in its plans for the courtyard and the canopy. In March, the Smithsonian decided to conclude its discussions with the ACHP.
Some critics of the renovation, said the ACHP letter, objected to the destruction of the courtyard's landscaping, an open garden that was accessible to the public. The Smithsonian took down several mature elm trees and uprooted the yard and is building an underground auditorium.
Preservation groups also objected to the height of the canopy, its visibility from certain street corners and its initial lighting plan. "The idea expressed of a 'beacon' to draw people to the museum and enhance the adjoining neighborhood is not out of character with the monumental importance L'Enfant placed on the site as central to his plan for the city. However the building itself should serve as the beacon and should be lighted accordingly, rather than lighting the night sky, diverting attention from the historic building itself," said the ACHP.
Smithsonian officials also said they have lowered the height and altered the lighting.
Several preservation groups said the enclosure would have a negative impact on the building. "The design of the canopy, while exhilarating and innovative in its own right, overpowers the Greek Revival edifice in a way inappropriate to a building of this rarity," said the Interior Department report. It sided with the critics who do not want the canopy, but that conclusion isn't binding on the Smithsonian.
Foster has made some changes to the design in response to the critics -- for example, relieving the walls of the extra weight by attaching the glass roof to eight discrete pillars. But an ACHP staff report, prepared earlier this month, still had reservations, pointing out the "eight columns necessary to support the new roof introduce another series of elements out of character with the building facades that encompass the courtyard."
The Commission of Fine Arts approved the enclosure project in January, with some questions about the glazing. The National Capital Planning Commission has approved preliminary plans and will hold a full review as early as June.
All of the preservation oversight groups have asked the Smithsonian to reconstruct an exterior staircase that was torn down in 1936 so F Street could be widened. The Smithsonian has agreed to do so and include the cost in its fiscal 2007 request to Congress.
The original $38 million estimate for the canopy was based on a design estimate and moved to approximately $50 million as the design was finalized. "The euro has worked against us, the price of the materials changed and we had to make adjustments, suggested by the review panels, such as the lowering of the height," Burke said.