Retrospective: Selected Work by Dan Worth 1978 – 2020

Retro spective SELECTED WORK BY DAN WORTH (1978–2020)

Retro spective SELECTED WORK BY DAN WORTH (1978–2020)

Published by BVH Architecture, 2020

Contents BIOGRAPHY NEBRASKA STATE CAPITOL STUHR MUSEUM OF THE PRAIRIE PIONEER DOUGLAS COUNTY MURAL RESTORATION NATIONAL PARK SERVICE GATEWAY ARCH NATIONAL MONUMENT SUSAN LAFLESCHE PICOTTE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

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Biography Dan has been a catalyst for the preservation of historically meaningful buildings throughout the Great Plains States and particularly on the landscape of Nebraska. His understanding of regional history, technical acumen and innovations, and design sensibilities are the foundation of his preservation and adaptive-reuse projects. By creating and leading initiatives to preserve the region’s historic fabric, he has awakened communities to the value of their architectural past. Dan’s dedication to disseminating technical expertise and establishing best practices has significantly elevated the standards of historic preservation.

Dan began his time at BVH Architects in 1981, taking a brief 1-year break to work with the Omaha City Planning Department as Urban Designer and Archtiect. Throughout the next 4 decades, Dan would be instrumental in growing both the business and culture of BVH, helping to establish his firm as a nationally recognized expert in the field of historic preservation. The enormous volume of Dan’s accomplishments while at BVH speaks to his stature as a leader in historic preservation. For the Smithsonian Institution, he led the planning, programming, and design of 26 National Historic Landmarks, including the National Air and Space Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the American

Museum of Natural History, and the Cooper Hewitt Museum. He designed and oversaw the on-going restoration program for the precedent-setting Nebraska State Capitol, a building of physical and metaphoric importance for Nebraskans.

Dan has pioneered innovations for the sustainable preservation of more recent landmarks, whose materials, construction methods, and uses present new challenges. Among these are Eero Saarinen’s iconic Gateway Arch, recipient of a 2018 Getty Foundation grant for restoration; and Edward Durell Stone’s 1963 Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, winner of the Docomomo US Modernism in America 2017 Design Award of Excellence.

He has also spearheaded the listing of four historic sites on the National Register of Historic Places and their inclusion in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “11 Most Endangered Places.”

Those sites, whose preservation he also undertook, include the Dakota Territorial Museum and the Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte Memorial Hospital built by the nation’s first Native American woman doctor. As chair of the Nebraska State Historic Society’s Historic Preservation Board, he led the successful drive to have more than 250 properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. /7

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Dan’s passion for historic preservation is as much about urban renewal and community-building as it is about the architectural richness of the past. He led the development of the Comprehensive Plan for Historic Preservation for Omaha, NE, spurring a renaissance for the rehabilitation of the city’s historic fabric. In his two terms as president of Omaha’s nonprofit citizens’ preservation advocacy organization, he was responsible for its transformation into the state’s most effective promoter of preservation. His renown as a deeply knowledgeable expert and effective advocate has led constituencies across the country to seek his advice and counsel.

Dan has dedicated his career to the advancement and dissemination of technical expertise in historic preservation, a rapidly evolving discipline. He shares the findings and methodologies of his projects, in case studies and white papers, with the international community of preservationists, inviting the exchange of ideas and experiences. He lectures nationally and has prepared and led numerous local, state, and national workshops and conferences, as well as publishing multiple books on the subject.

For 20 years, he has been an influential leader of the Association for Preservation Technology International (APT), elected to the APT College of Fellows in 2010. Dan played a principal role in the establishment of APT’s technical committees on modern heritage and on sustainable preservation, serving as co-chair of the latter. As program chair for the organization’s 2015 International Conference, he developed an array of presentations that drew nearly 1,000 participants from around the world.

Dan’s work reveals a sophisticated understanding of the intersection of historic architecture with contemporary standards and functional requirements.

Years of advocacy and bettering his field have not gone unrecognized. In 2019 Dan was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows, and was awarded the prestigious Harry F. Cunningham Gold Medal, the highest honor AIA Nebraska can bestow upon an individual. With his extensive catalog of projects, his years of advocacy, his leadership of the APT, and his books and lectures, Dan Worth has had a positive and lasting impact on the preservation of our built environment and our country’s architectural heritage.

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Nebraska State Capitol Restoration LOCATION /

Lincoln, NE ARCHITECT /

Bertram Goodhue CONSTRUCTED /

1922–1932 RESTORED /

1996–Current RECOGNITION /

National Historic Landmark 2018 Preservation Association of Lincoln Award for Integration of New and Old 2013 AIA NE Honor Award

For Nebraskans, the Nebraska State Capitol is the embodiment of a pioneering spirit and proud sense of place; for architectural history it is exemplary of innovation in design and engineering.

Goodhue’s competition-winning design broke with contemporary neoclassical capitol design conventions. He placed the stillrequisite dome atop a 400-foot tower, rising from a three-story base. The symbolism was explicit: the tower— effectively that new concept, the skyscraper—representing aspiration; the broad horizontal base referring to the expansive plains.

Not long after its completion, the Capitol began to show signs of trouble: cracks appeared in the tower facade along with such ominous signs as spalling, delamination, and stone displacement.

Remedial efforts over time were of temporary benefit, at best; some, like sandblasting, were destructive. Although the Capitol was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, it wasn’t until 1995 that Dan and engineering colleagues were retained to consult on and oversee a comprehensive restoration project.

2013 AIA Central States Region Award of Excellence 2012 Preservation Association of Lincoln Stewardship Award

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Dan’s initial research efforts relied in part on the extensive archives: specifications, product samples, photographs, and 3,000 drawings. The original shop drawings, with numbered references to every stone, became the basis for the inspections, which revealed, among other problems, that the anchors, made of ferrous steel, had rusted; relief joints, designed to absorb movement, penetrated the exterior stone but not the underlying brick; the mortar, including that applied in various tuck-pointing campaigns, was harder than the surrounding masonry.

Dan successfully lobbied for an enhanced, scientific approach to uncovering and remediating the damage.

An early adopter and proponent of technology, he turned to a software developed for aircraft design, modifying and enhancing it to build a relational database in which location, deterioration, and chronology together would enable a diagnosis. Every element of the structure was mapped and the original numbering of the stones painstakingly transferred to the database, enabling dismantled portions of the facade to be repaired or replaced precisely.

Working closely with officials, Dan designed and obtained approval for interior restorations that met the intent of the relevant codes while preserving the character and finishes of the spaces he designated as preservation zones of special historic and architectural importance. For the installation of new heating and cooling, Dan adapted his model to new CAD software, revealing original chases and spaces through which new systems could be woven without negative impact on the historic elements.

The conversion to a geo-thermal system sets a new standard for sustainability in National Historic Landmark projects.

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The Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer LOCATION /

Grand Island, NE ARCHITECT /

Edward Durell Stone CONSTRUCTED /

1963 RESTORED /

2011—2015 RECOGNITION /

National Register of Historic Places 2017 Docomomo US Modernism in America Award

The Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer is a quintessential example of New Formalism expression by renowned American architect Edward Durell Stone. In the early 1960s, a group of Grand Island, NE residents, in an effort to commemorate their pioneering roots, contacted every major museum in the United States seeking recommendations for an architect for their new museum. The overwhelming response was for Edward Durell Stone, chiefly due to his modernist design for MoMA. Design was completed in 1963 and the museum was dedicated in 1967. As cited in the 2016 nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, “The open plains on the outskirts of Grand Island provided Stone a blank canvas. The resulting museum building drew from Stone’s established geometrical vocabulary and is among Stone’s most unique works in terms of setting and integration between building and landscape. The Stuhr Museum is a perfectly square, two-story peripteral building on a square podium set upon a circular island within a circular pond. The approach to the building establishes its monumentality, and allows the visitor to view the building from multiple angles as they circumambulate the pond to reach the museum’s entrance.

The widely spaced columns and fascia recall classical motifs, while the simplified decoration, extensive white surfaces, strong horizontality, and use of reinforced concrete all speak to international style modernism.” / 23

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Dan’s conservation master plan was focused on updating the interior and systems for contemporary use, correcting deterioration to the envelope, and providing for accessibility—all while preserving the original design intent. This last proved an intriguing challenge: the research, which included an examination of Stone’s drawings and 1963 construction documents, and the physical inspections revealed that many details were not built as designed, most likely for reasons of cost.

Some changes, such as the elimination of an intended lower level, were not at issue. Others, however, raised questions about what and how to restore. Stone specified precast concrete panels, emulating limestone, for the cladding; instead, the columns and exterior walls were faced with Granulux, a product briefly popular in the 1960s and no longer made, and which were now found to be cracking, peeling, and failing. The design was further compromised by the replacement of the precast concrete fascia, imprinted with a geometric design, with a troweled-on system. Where plaster had been intended on the interior, concrete block was simply painted. For terrazzo flooring in the exhibit areas, vinyl tile was substituted.

Following his master plan, Dan undertook the sensitive task of determining how best to preserve the original design intent while making the essential restorations, upgrades, and alterations. Fortunately, most of the functional upgrading had no impact on the aesthetics.

In designing essential new and visible features, Dan’s knowledgeable and sensitive grasp of Stone’s intent and aesthetic are clearly evident. With respect to program, those designs interpret the aspirations of the museum’s leadership and of the community, for which the Stuhr had become an important hub and venue for events and activities. The preservation of the museum, together with its newly added role and mission, creates an opportunity to advance public appreciation of modern architecture.

Using the example of the Stuhr preservation as a case study, Dan has shared with the preservation community his new approaches and innovative solutions to the challenges—authenticity, design intent, materiality, and evolving programmatic needs—of preserving outstanding examples of modern architecture.

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Douglas County Courthouse Mural Restoration LOCATION /

Omaha, NE ARCHITECT /

George Potterfield Gates CONSTRUCTED /

1912 RESTORED /

2017 RECOGNITION /

1979 National Register of Historic Places

The Douglas County Courthouse was constructed in 1912 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

After years of neglect and deterioration caused by fire damage, poor lighting, and a failing ceiling structure, the Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission sought to restore both the glass dome and historic murals.

Depicting the region’s history and expansion, the eight murals curve around the 5th floor of the Hall of Justice. The original 1912 murals painted by William Rau were severely damaged by a fire in September of 1919 when a mob stormed the courthouse and set it ablaze. Repainted in 1922, possibly by William Baird, and with later interventions in 1932, 1955 and 1980, the murals continued to suffer deterioration from chronic water infiltration from the skylight above the stained glass laylight.

By early 2009 the conditions had become critical and the ODPBC initiated the first of several projects to halt the deterioration and begin the process of restoring the rotunda to its original glory. A complete skylight replacement and the restoration of the stained glass laylight panels in 2010 set the stage for the complete restoration of the murals.

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Before any restoration work was undertaken, the conservation professionals performed detailed inspections and investigations to document the condition of the murals and plaster dome.

Additional historic research was also completed at this time to help the conservators understand the physical changes that had occurred over time.

A number of test panels and exposure windows were completed to reveal the paint layers to understand and confirm the history of repainting/alterations that had occurred over time. The exposure windows also helped determine original paint colors and materials used for the murals, ceiling and ornamental plaster elements including skylight frames.

Historical and archival research confirmed that the four corner murals had large figures added that were not part of the original mural composition. After further consultation, it was decided that a total of five murals needed to be recreated and the remaining three murals restored in place. Final restoration activities included the stabilization of three original murals that remained. This work included cleaning, removal of varnish and limited overpaint removal to clarify the amount and conditions of the original paint.

Restoration artisans then used the original palette and composition for the final restoration work.

The five murals to be reproduced were matched and traced on site and were reproduced and repainted on canvas in EverGreene’s NYC studios. The five deteriorated canvases were removed carefully, rolled and wrapped for long term archival storage. The plaster walls underneath were repaired and the newly recreated mural canvases reinstalled.

At the completion of the project, all documentation including paint analysis, sketches, mock-ups and photographs were given to ODPBC for storage in their archives for future use by facility managers.

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Scottsbluff National Monument

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National Park Service LOCATION /

Midwest States SERVICES PERFORMED /

1999—2020 RECOGNITION /

National Historic Sites National Historic Landmarks National Register of Historic Places

From 1999 to 2020, Dan has undertaken more than 240 historic preservation projects in the 13-state Midwest Region of the National Park Service, many of which are National Historic Landmarks or have been placed on the National Register. Dan lead A/E services to the National Park Service under three consecutive Indefinite Quantity Contracts, as well as three separate contracts for Historic Preservation, including Title I, II, and III A/E design services, Historic Structures Reports, Condition Assessments, Cultural Landscape Reports, Archeology Investigations, NEPA Conformance, HABS/HAER Documentation, Value Analysis sessions, hazardous materials analysis, paint analysis, historic research for NPS properties and NHL sites throughout the Region.

Projects assessed, documented, and restored under these contracts include notable landmarks, presidential homes, and places of historic significance, ensuring that the physical remnants of our history are preserved for future generations.

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Harry S Truman Historic Site

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Preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over a mutual concern for the future.

WILLIAM MURTAGH FIRST KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

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Little Rock Central High School

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Gateway Arch National Park & Old Courthouse

Raspberry Island Light Station

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SELECTED NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PROJECTS Agate Fossil Beds, Harrison, NE NR Nominations Fire Water & Potable Water System Study Museum & Visitor Ctr HVAC Renovation Apostle Islands NL, Apostle Island, Wisconsin Raspberry Island Light Station Rehab Title II Raspberry Island Light Station Submittal Review Title III Badlands NP, Interior, SD Cedar Pass Visitor Center Historic Resource Study Lead Assessment Central High School NHS, Little Rock, AK CLR Part I and II HSR - Title I Cuyahoga Valley NP, Peninsula, OH Survey Tract 114 Survey Eugene V. Debs House NHL, Terre Haute, IN, Condition Assessment Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte Hospital NHL, Walthill, NE, Condition Assessment Fort Robinson and Red Cloud Agency NR Nomination,Harrison, NE Fort Smith NHS, Fort Smith, AR HVAC Title I, Title II Phase III George Rogers Clark NHS, Vincennes, IN Memorial Terrace Renovation George Rogers Terrace, Ft Larned, VA Workshops NR Nomination Railroad Rehabilitation George Washington Carver NM, Diamond, MO Trail Relocation CLR/EA Grand Portage NM, Grand Portage, MN CLR Part I & II Harry S Truman NHS, Independence & Grandview, MO Truman Home & Farm Home HVAC Truman Home Mech System Truman Home Plaster Repairs Noland House HSR Noland House Title II Design Development and Contract Documents Herbert Hoover NHS, West Branch, IA Isaac Miles Bank Barn Structural Evaluation, Foundation Replacement Staples House Renovation

Hoffman House, Ste. Genevieve, MO Condition Assessment Homestead NM, Beatrice, NE Design Workshop Heritage Center Exhibit Design Value Analysis Hot Springs NP, Hot Springs, AR Admin Bldg HVAC Renovation Indiana Dunes NL, Porter, IN Environmental Survey Good Fellow Camp and Lodge HSR/CLR/EA Good Fellow Youth Camp NR Nomination Wastewater Treatment Plant Hobart Prairie Grove Survey Isle Royale NP, Houghton, MI Mott Island Communications Tower Title II Services J. Sterling Morton House, Nebraska City, NE Condition Assessment and Restoration James B. Weaver House NHL, Bloomfield, IA Stabilization Gateway Arch National Park, St. Louis, MO Asbestos/Lead-Based Paint Survey, Title III Building Condition Assessment Gateway Arch Corrosion Investigation Gateway Arch HSR Gateway Arch Overlook Stairs Old Courthouse Dispatch Center Old Courthouse Dispatch Center Title I Old Courthouse HSR Old Courthouse Museum Collections Storage Old Courthouse Vertical Wheelchair Lift Old Courthouse Tile Floor Restoration/Repair Electrical Subpanel and Switchgear Replacement Lobby & Restroom Renovation Old Courthouse Moat & Courtyard Repair Keweenaw NHP, Calumet, MI Environmental Survey Union Bldg VA Workshop Union Building Rehabilitation Union Building Steam System Rehab Title II & III Lincoln Home NHS, Springfield IL Morse House VA Mount Rushmore NM, Keystone, SD NRHP Nomination Sculptors Studio/Residence HSR Newtonia Battlefields, Newtonia, MO Protection Master Plan

Nicodemus NHS, Nicodemus, KS First Baptist Church Stabilization First Baptist Church Stabilization Title III HSR & HSR Update Oral History Documentation Ozark NSR, Van Buren, MO Lead Assessment Patee House NHL, St. Joseph, MO Condition Assessment Pea Ridge NMP Visitor Center, Garfield, AK HVAC Renovation Perrys Victory NM, Put-in-Bay OH Condition Assessment Pipestone National Monument, Pipestone, MN Visitor Center Title I, II and Title III services Scotts Bluff NM, Scottsbluff, NE Waste Water System Study Title I, Survey and Title II Services Sleeping Bear Dunes NL, Empire, MI BOQ Renovations Klett & Esch House Fire Protection Tallgrass Prairie, Strong City, KS CLR, Bottom Land Restoration Workshop Voyageurs NP, International Falls, MN Ellsworth Guest Cabin Survey Mapping Western Historic Trails Center, Council Bluffs, IA William Howard Taft NHS, Cincinnati, OH Taft House HVAC Renovation & Commissioning, Land Survey William Taft House, Cincinnati, OH Title I and II Services William Jefferson Clinton Home NHS, Hope, AR CLR/EA and HSR Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, Republic, MO Civil War Museum Rehabilitation WICR CLR McElhaney House Rehabilitation Ray House Fire Suppression Visitor’s Center Roof Replacement Sweeney Museum Rehabilitation Wind Cave National Park, Hot Springs, SD CCC Officer’s Quarters HSR CLR

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Gateway Arch National Monument LOCATION /

St. Louis, MO ARCHITECT /

Eero Saarinen CONSTRUCTED /

1963—1965 CONSERVED /

2004—Present RECOGNITION /

National historic Landmark 2018 Getty Foundation ‘Keeping It Modern’ Grant

Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch may well be among the American architectural icons best known internationally. Unlike the preponderance of landmark structures, it has neither utility nor association with a specific historic moment. Rather, it derives its meaning from the great 1807-1910 westward expansion; its renown attaches to the architecture, to the Arch’s grandeur and appearance. Since the Arch’s completion in 1965, that appearance—the reflectivity of the stainless steel—has been compromised, and questions have arisen concerning the deterioration of the exterior stainless steel skin and the potential for risk to the structural integrity.

Beginning in 2005, Dan led a team of experts in a series of inspections and studies to assess, analyze, and diagnose these issues. He also reviewed the original documents and interviewed National Park Service staff about maintenance procedures, observations of existing conditions, and any corrective measures undertaken. He concluded that the discoloration and staining at the base is the consequence of visitors’ touching, incising, and painting graffiti on the surfaces; staining on the upper reaches of the Arch are the result of atmospheric pollutants. Inspections of the interior, necessarily limited in scope, suggested that conditions were generally good, but that there may be the potential for future damage.

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Given that the Arch is sui generis in its design and materials, there is no precedent for restoration and preservation procedures.

Issues of access and cost also present considerable challenges.

Dan’s signal accomplishment at every phase—from initial inspections to proposed solutions for remediation—of the still on-going project has been to develop innovations that not only benefit the Arch, but are potentially applicable to other modern landmarks.

In the fall of 2018, Dan’s grant proposal to the Getty Foundation’s Conservation Planning Program, “Keeping It Modern,” was approved. In it, he describes his project to investigate, test, and develop a preservation protocol that the National Park Service can use to clean and conserve the Arch in perpetuity. In addition to the specific steps Dan proposed to undertake, he notes that the project will result not only in protocols, but in detailed cost estimates that will greatly enhance the likelihood that the Park Service will secure the necessary funding.

The value of the current effort extends well beyond the Arch itself: Dan’s proposal includes the development of education sessions concerning the preservation of 20th-century architectural metals, notably stainless steel, in concert with APT. By sharing his groundbreaking research and investigations with the entire heritage conservation community, Dan has helped provide a valuable tool for stewards of modernist architectural monuments.

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Susan LaFlesche Picotte Memorial Hospital LOCATION /

Walthill, NE ARCHITECT /

William L. Steele CONSTRUCTED /

1913 RESTORED /

2020 RECOGNITION /

1992 National Historic Landmark 2018 11 Most Endangered Historic Places

After graduating at the top of her class from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1889, Susan LaFlesche Picotte emerged as the first Native American doctor and one of the most extraordinary figures in American history.

In 1913, Dr. Picotte opened her hospital doors in Walthill, NE, a small town on the Omaha Indian Reservation. Inspired by the Craftsman style, William L. Steele designed the one and one-half story building which features a recessed porch that embodies Dr. Picotte’s love for “fresh air and sunshine.” In 1992, the National Park Service declared the Susan LaFlesche Picotte Memorial Hospital a National Historic Landmark.

Today, Dr. Picotte’s hospital is at risk. In order to save this historic site, a coalition of public and private partners, including the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, the Village of Walthill, and BVH and our team of consultants are embarking together on a strategic planning process.

The coalition has a dual vision for the hospital: honoring the past and building for the future. The restoration project aims to save and repurpose the structure of the Picotte Memorial Hospital as a cultural treasure and a catalyst for rural small business development in Walthill. Through green technology, Native plants, walking paths, and a butterfly habitat, the coalition will restore and enliven the building and surrounding grounds while preserving its historic integrity. The renovated building will also house a state of the art museum for all to visit and learn about Dr. Picotte’s pioneering vision and story. / 67

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Smithsonian Institution LOCATION /

Washington, DC New York, NY RESTORATION SERVICES /

1987—1993

Dan led multiple historic preservation, analysis, and restoration work with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC and New York City under an Indefinite Quantity Contract for contemporary and historic projects since 1987. BVH has provided restoration and design services on 24 historic preservation projects on 12 National Historic Landmark Buildings including the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Castle, National History Museum, the Cooper Hewitt Museum, and the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The scope of restoration work at the Freer Gallery included restoration of the original fountain courtyard and landscaped terrace pavement; survey of existing interior conditions; renovation of 19 galleries and public spaces, including lighting, HVAC, fire detection and sprinkler system upgrades; skylight replacement with state-ofthe-art glazing and framing system; renovation of original 300-seat auditorium to accommodate access for the disabled, enhancement of acoustic and A/V capabilities, new theatrical lighting and upgraded audio control room.

Work at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York included significant improvements to ADA site and building access, as well as site improvements for the adjoining Miller House, Carnegie Mansion, and gardens.

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