While many students have been away this summer, construction on the Rotunda has continued as well as new projects for the Chemistry Building and Gilmer Hall.
These projects stayed mostly on schedule this summer, Historic Preservation Architect Joseph Dye Lahendro said.
Both the north and south capitals on the Rotunda have been finished, Lahendro said.
“We finished the south capitals by spring,” Lahendro said. “We started on the north capitals and they were finished in the early summer.”
The renovation of the utilities in the Rotunda was one of the more major difficulties for the project, Lahendro said, and has been a challenge since the first years of the project.
“The utilities were not where we thought they were and we found others that were not on the plans.” Lahendro said. “We have had to redesign the utilities. We had to go deep with them and we hit rock. That has been an unexpected difficulty, but we were suspicious enough to work that out early.”
Lahendro said a major part of the restoration finished this summer was the painting of the roof.
The architects were able to finish the Rotunda’s underground mechanical vault and are currently working to put in the equipment and infrastructure.
“We are filling it up with mechanical equipment.” Lahendro said. We are putting in the main mechanical lines, duct work and water lines. The electrical lines and all that infrastructure is going in.”
University architects have also done research on the original clock faces on the porticos and are using newfound information to make the faces authentic, Lahendro said.
The framing work on the dome room ceiling has been finished, and construction crews are ready to start work on putting the ceiling this fall. Lahendro said the new plaster will “be similar to Jefferson’s original plaster.”
There are, however, more projects to start and continue into the fall for the restoration, but Lahendro said Rotunda restoration plans are on schedule to finish in July of next summer.
Plans for the Chemistry Building and Gilmer Hall are underway as well. Senior Facilities Planner Luis Carrazana — who is currently working on the project — said both buildings are in need of renovation.
“Both were built in the sixties...” Carrazana said. “All of the infrastructure needs renewal in both buildings. Their mechanical systems are over 50 years old.”
This project is still in the designing phase and construction has not yet started, Carrazana said.
“Currently, the project design is under review by the state,” Carrazana said. “We are asking for state support. Construction won’t start for at least another year.”
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