Table of Contentss

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Dinosaur

Wright Brothers

Gettysburg

Pertified Forest

Rocky Mountain

Cecil Doty

Conclusion

Bibliography

Appendix I

Appendix II

Appendix III

Appendix IV

Mission 66 Visitor Centers Chapter 4

Building the Painted Desert Community (continued)

The Residential Colony and the Maintenance Building, Community Building, Trailer Park Building, and Vehicular Storage Shed: Rasmussen Construction Company

Weekly construction reports kept by the Park Service's project supervisor, Eugene Mott, indicate serious problems with Rasumussen Construction Company from the beginning of the initial contract in July 1961. During their first week of work, Mott noticed that the contractors did not "take into consideration the amount of fill work to be done and the height of the building foundations required." He suspected that these miscalculations had resulted in the company's low bid on the project. Mott soon learned that Rasmussen did not belong to a union and that he had recently failed to complete work at the Grand Canyon. Despite these early warning signals, the park awarded the Rasmussen Company the contract for the maintenance, community, and trailer park buildings. Work on this second project began in early March 1962, when the Company's residences were almost half complete.

The Rasmussen Construction Company had begun building the eighteen Painted Desert Community residences in July 1962. The concrete and steel frame houses were to be of concrete block matching the other buildings, with interior walls finished exactly like the exteriors "to maintain a continuity of appearance and provide a linear characteristic to the wall pattern." [56] Windows and doors were aluminum framed. Except for the interior concrete walls, surfaces were finished with plaster and gypsum board. Once construction advanced, Neutra and Alexander reported a "variation" in their specifications for concrete-block construction. The contractors had used closed-end blocks in areas with vertical reinforcing steel that needed open end blocks to accurately place the steel. The architects explained how to correct the problem through the use of a "centering device." Similar open blocks were especially important in the community building, which required "most careful workmanship on masonry work." [57] By May 1962, cracks had developed in the concrete walls of the apartments and administration buildings, and in preparation for the community building, the architects suggested placing control joints in the walls. In addition, they advised testing the concrete block for deficiencies in absorption, shrinkage, and expansion capability. [58]

During this repair progress, Superintendent Fagergren revealed the first hint of serious problems with the Rasmussen Company. Not only was work proceeding slowly on the residences, but it was not "conducted in a business like manner." He suspected that the cost of "inspection and supervision has been excessive in order to gain compliance with specifications." [59] At this early date, with the projects in full swing, the superintendent could not know how serious the situation would become. By mid-March 1962, Mott reported that Rasmussen had been given thirty days to redeem himself and the contract. In April he still required "constant vigilance." As work slowly continued, the Rasmussen Company fell further and further behind in the construction schedule, not to mention in paying its debts. Over the winter of 1961-1962, park officials reviewed the previous work and discovered multiple instances of failure to comply with specifications. Problems ranged from insufficient bolts to poorly fitting beams. The Park Service withheld payment until submittal of payrolls. The Company was warned that a visiting inspector, Red Newcomb, would enforce "strict compliance with the plans and specifications." [60] Finally, in October 1962, the residences were inspected and approved on the condition that Rasmussen address several issues: the saturation of walls during the rainy season, a fuel leak that damaged the roof of one unit, and waterproofing of the carports. [61]

Throughout construction, the Park Service consulted Neutra and Alexander on every aspect of interiors and then forwarded this information to the contractors and subcontractors. The architects designed a cabinet arrangement and based their approval of Youngstown kitchens on the provision that the bottom cabinet contain "two large drawers." They also selected materials and colors for cabinet tops and splashes. Superintendent Fagergren sent the architects bundles of brochures, including information on Norse refrigerators and grills from the R. E. Naylor Company. The architects were to examine a sample of Hermosa tile and choose the appropriate color. All of the mechanical systems and light fixtures were also architect approved.

Inspector Mott reluctantly accepted the residences as complete on August 24, 1962. According to Mott, Rasmussen had "in his own disorganized way, done the best that he is capable of doing." At that point, $3,800 had accumulated in liquidated damages. While the Park Service attempted to recoup its losses, park families began moving into the new row housing. The eighteen units were organized into four rows, the two central consisting of blocks of six units each. Covered walkways supported by smooth metal poles led to the fronts of the rows. The floor plans were flipped, so that the bedroom and living wings alternated. Single rows of units facing northwest had a front door and clerestory windows with entry to the patio from the rear. In the first row of units in each of the double rows, access to both living area and patio was from the front because the patio areas were enclosed by the rear walls of adjacent apartments. All of the houses were oriented toward the patio spaces, which were "outdoor rooms" intended to block any external views. The wall of the living room facing the patio was all windows. Each bedroom featured a strip window facing the patio space and one wall of bare concrete block. Veneered golden-colored woodwork contrasted with the aluminum-framed louver windows and exposed concrete surfaces.

The character of the row housing was strongly influenced by the color scheme—bright white, metallic gray, and bright blues and golds. Inside, the houses were painted white, tiled in "salt n-pepper," "dawn blue" or "inca gold," and equipped with "frost white," "primrose" or "aqua" kitchen counters. The interior colors were coordinated with the exterior in five schemes, "A" through "E," which were sprinkled throughout the four rows of units. For example, unit "A" had light yellow and gold accents, primrose counters, gold ceramic tiles, and a gold exterior. Unit "C" was painted with light and dark blue interior accents and featured white counters, beige cabinets, and white tile. Exterior plaster surfaces were white, but doors were color-coordinated, along with the carports on either end of each row, in four groups: gold on the east; rust for the front of the next row, but dark yellow for the back; light yellow for the front of the third row, but blue for the back; light blue for the west. The carports were painted to match the front doors, from east to west—gold, dark yellow, and blue. [62]

Once residents had moved into the housing, Neutra composed suggestions for furnishing the units. Despite the reduced room sizes, the result of congressional budget cuts, Neutra believed that a feeling of spaciousness could be obtained by hanging pictures to be viewed from a seated position. Drapes should be light colored so that they might open up the view to the patio, which was intended as an outdoor living area. Neutra's obsession with light and sun is perhaps best conveyed by his ideas for the individual patios and their relationship to the house. "There against the gray block walls light blooming plants and shrubs, preferably flowering white, cream, lemon, yellow or orange, will give the best effect and convey the feeling of sun penetrating, without any glare, into the living areas of the occupant family." [63] The architect also suggested light-colored carpets and offered to provide additional advice on the selection of appropriate furniture, if necessary.

As park employees adjusted to their new homes, Rasmussen continued work on the community and maintenance buildings, scheduled for completion November 2, 1962. Evidently, pressure from the Company's financial backer, Dr. F. B. Wheelwright (Rasmussen's father-in-law), led to greater effort on this contract. By September 15, the roof framing for the community building was in place. A few months later a crack had developed in the parapet wall on the northwest corner of the building.

The contractors rebuilt the wall with 8-inch-thick blocks instead of the required 12-inch blocks, thereby causing further delay and accruing additional expenses while the error was corrected. Although interior partitions and furred ceilings had been completed in the maintenance and community buildings by the end of October, the Park Service was considering ending the contract. This threat seems to have motivated the contractor to speed up work. On November 11, the day before the buildings were scheduled for completion, the Ferguson canopy doors were installed on the maintenance shop and the curtain tracks in the community building. Work dragged on as the contractors waited for a delivery of roof gravel from Barstow, California. Mott predicted that Rasmussen would use the architect's failure to send the color schedule on time as an excuse for delays; in fact, he was already waiting for "the roll-up door, sliding door, aluminum door, louver windows" and other items. The Christmas holidays passed with the building looming at the ninety-nine percent complete mark.

Although the maintenance, community, and utility buildings were accepted as substantially complete by late March 1963, the construction ordeal was only just beginning. In February, the Rasmussen Company had filed an appeal to its contract with the government for the eighteen residences. Over the next few years, contractor and client would argue over the liquidated damages assessed as the result of extensive delays. In the meantime, Packer Construction Company, which had recently constructed the Fred Harvey concession building, completed the final work on Rasmussen's maintenance contract in September 1963. The modest maintenance and utility buildings showed no sign of the effort that went into their construction. These functional structures consisted of two rectangular wings behind the visitor center; high concrete walls blocked any view from the parking lot. Park Service employees entered the parking and service compound from the rear. Maintenance offices could also be reached through the visitor center lobby. The community building stood between the Park Service apartments and the housing units. An aluminum roll-up door formed almost the entire front of the building, and opened to reveal a large rectangular meeting space with a movie screen at the far end. The high ceiling and clerestory windows contributed to its theatrical effect. Floors were rubber tile and walls plastered. This "multi-purpose room" included a kitchen and storage space. The trailer park building, located at the far corner of the complex, provided temporary employees with bathrooms, storage, and laundry facilities. Twelve trailer spaces were graded and planted.

CONTINUED

 

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