William Howard Taft Administrative History

CHAPTER 7: THE STRUCTURE'S EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR: INVESTIGATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT (continued)

The earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale that shook Cincinnati and the Taft home on July 27, 1980, provided a strong incentive to devote funds to the stabilization of the property. Without the earthquake, the initiation of development work on the property might have slipped to fiscal year 1983. However, because the Denver Service Center staff thought the house to be "in serious jeopardy unless corrective actions are taken soon," the Denver Service Center recommended emergency funding of $100,000 to stabilize the structure. In the meantime, the Denver Service Center asked for $15,000 to accomplish a series of temporary measures, such as caulking cracks around the main entry to prevent the seepage of moisture, shoring and bracing the 1851 wing, sheathing room 106 (the nursery) to prevent bricks from falling, and replacing the lintel over the east opening of the south wall of room 106. These measures were considered a "baling wire and bubble gum" effort. Another natural phenomenon such as an earthquake, a heavy load of snow, or excessive ground moisture would lead to "major damage or destruction." [11] The staff of the Denver Service Center later clarified the extent of resources needed by stating that even with a $100,000 stabilization job, the east wing might still be lost with further earth tremors or a heavy snow. [12]

The emergency stabilization work, which began in December 1980, used wood shoring for structural strengthening and styrofoam, white okum, and tape to treat the cracks, depending on their size. "Permanent work" was scheduled for the summer of 1981. [13] During much of early 1981, the Denver Service Center was engaged in preparing drawings for the permanent stabilization of the 1851 wing.

The completion of the master plan and the imminent development work necessary to stabilize the house pushed the Taft National Historic Site to a higher point on the list of funding priorities for the Midwest Regional Office. During February 18 and 19, 1981, the regional directors met with National Park Service Director Russell E. Dickenson about servicewide priority construction projects. During the meeting, the Interior Department's emphasis on health and safety was discussed as a possible criterion that would guide decisions about funding. When the group considered the Taft National Historic Site, it did not qualify under this criterion. When the group moved on to the architectural significance of the properties, a Washington Office staff person present at the meeting stated that the Taft Home was not significant architecturally and retained little original fabric. In the limited scope of the discussion at the meeting, the Taft property did not meet the criteria for priority funding and was removed from the servicewide construction budget. [14] The nature of the discussion caught Midwest Regional Director J. L. Dunning by surprise. He did not have a ready response to the criteria by which the Taft site was measured.

As a result of the meeting, Dickenson issued a summary of the changes to the servicewide priority construction listing to all regional directors. The Taft site was included in this listing. Under the heading of "action," was inserted, "Delete altogether. Reevaluate plans for this area, including the possibility of closing the area." [15]

In response to this possibility, the Midwest Region prepared a report on the Taft National Historic Site, outlining the legislative history of the property and presenting four management alternatives. The alternatives ranged from mothballing the Taft home until the budget situation improved to completing the development of the site as described in the 1981 master plan, the price tag for which was set at $5,000,000. The Midwest Regional Office recommended a middle ground, "confine the exterior treatment of the house to stabilization and painting without changing the roofline or other architectural treatments outlined in the approved master plan. Adapt the interior for administrative and interpretive purposes with some furnished spaces and some spaces used for exhibitry." [16] The Midwest Regional Office recommended continued development on a lesser scale than suggested in the master plan and stretched out over several years. The report reminded Dickenson that the structure's integrity and amount of historic fabric were largely immaterial to the intent of the Congress in establishing the site.

The report persuaded Director Dickenson to accept the Midwest Regional Office's recommendations. On December 17, 1982, he wrote to Robert Taft, Jr., that $160,000 was being spent on the current phase of work. Another $150,000 to $175,000 was proposed for fiscal year 1984. Beyond that, the National Park Service planned to spend approximately $100,000 per year to complete the interior. As Dickenson stated, "We have found that this phasing of restoration over a period of years gives us an opportunity to work with the conditions of the historic structure. This approach at William Howard Taft Birthplace will provide the most cost effective method of accomplishing the restoration on a manageable schedule." [17]

It might be noted that in the 1981 annual report for the Taft National Historic Site, Superintendent Maxine Boyd claimed that upon arriving in her new position late in that year, no development funds had been programmed. She went on to write that only after she discussed the situation with the Regional Director, was $300,000 programmed and the Denver Service Center staff dispatched to the site to make measurements for the final drawings. [18] In actuality, the decision had been made to proceed with development several months before her arrival.

While the National Park Service had found a way to fund development work in the amount of $300,000 from the fiscal year 1982 Park Restoration and Improvement Program (PRIP), the Midwest Region in late 1981 continued to urge Director Dickenson to include the Taft National Historic Site in the five-year construction fund. Regional Director J. L. Dunning quoted a section from a memorandum from the recently appointed superintendent at the site to the effect that Charles P. Taft had lost faith in the National Park Service and did not believe that the house would be restored in his lifetime. [19]

In the end, the exterior restoration work proceeded at a rapid pace. The expenditures per year were as follows: $255,100 in 1982, $291,400 in 1983, and $300,100 in 1984. [20] The total of $846,600 over a period of three years was made possible through the Midwest Regional Office which had pressed for funds soon after the 1980 earthquake. Once the restoration was started, the rapid pace was sustained at high levels through the succeeding years through the tenacity of Superintendent Boyd who made personal appeals through all levels of the National Park Service bureaucracy.

During 1982, structural stabilization was carried out on the 1851 wing and the non-historic front porch was replaced with a temporary one Stabilization of the wing included the construction of a new foundation on the east elevation of the wing, construction of reinforced foundations enclosing the other walls of the wing, and stabilization of the 1851 floors with joists and plywood subflooring. A month later, stabilization work was extended to include refurnishing windows, repointing brickwork, removing the non-historic solarium, and restoring the piazza. The construction work was carried out by the R. J. Beishel Building Company of Cincinnati.

In the process of the construction work, the plywood cocoon was removed from the rear wing. After construction work commenced, Superintendent Boyd requested that restroom facilities be built on the ground floor because all other facilities in the building were cut off. In light of the continuing tours through the house, the facilities were included in that year's construction program. Soon after, staff at the Midwest Regional Office determined that the building, a construction site, ought to be off limits to everyone except the construction crew and supervisor. In December 1982, the building was closed to the Taft site staff and visitors.

Construction work in 1983 included the painting, cleaning, repairing of the exterior walls; installation of the windows in both sections of the house; the replacement of the lintels in the original block; reinforcement of the interior ground floor walls of the original block; and the rebuilding of the chimneys. The contract for this work was awarded to Brener Building Maintenance Company of Arlington, Virginia, which subcontracted with Cincinnati firms to accomplish the work. Only a portion of the work was completed. In December 1983, the National Park Service terminated the contract because of an inability to resolve differences with the contractor. In response, the Brener firm filed a claim against the National Park Service, charging that the bureau's plans and specifications were not well designed, faulty, and ambiguous. [21]

The third phase of work was carried out in 1984. This phase involved replacement of the roof; rebuilding the eaves and cornices; reconstruction of the front porch, carriage porch, and piazza; installation of windows and doors; providing underground utilities to the building; foundation waterproofing and drainage; and exterior painting. The construction work for this phase was contracted to R. J. Beischel of Cincinnati, the same firm that undertook construction work in 1982. The change in the exterior paint color, from white to a "blazing" yellow, was based on an analysis of paint samples taken from the house. The change startled many onlookers and made them take notice of the property for the first time.

In 1985, a contract was awarded to Wilson and Associates of Cincinnati, which teamed up with Studio Four, Inc. of Philadelphia, to prepare drawings for the interior restoration and adaptive use, including the electrical, heating, ventilating, and climatic control systems. Funds were also committed to the completion of the historic furnishings plan by the Harpers Ferry Center.

The three years of intensive development resulted in a restored exterior and reinforced interior structural members. Work left to be executed included the installation of mechanical, electrical, fire, and intrusion alarm systems. In addition, the ground floor was scheduled to be adapted for administrative purposes, part of the first floor refurnished, and the second floor adapted to administrative and meeting uses. In 1985, the cost of completing the last phase of work was projected at $1,677,000. [22]

Another source of funds for the restoration of the home and the refurnishing of the approved rooms is the Friends of the William Howard Taft Birthplace. In the organization's "Gifts Catalogue," items pertaining to the completion of the site's development are listed, such as underground electrical service costing $5,500, plumbing costing $16,000, reproduction Brussels carpeting for the parlor costing $5,000, and the restoration of the carriage drive costing $25,800.

The restoration of the Taft home followed nearly as difficult a path as the development of the master plan because, to a large degree, it was dependent on the plan's recommendations. The confluence of events in 1980 (the earthquake and the specter of a collapsed structure and the completion of the master plan) contributed to the final breakthrough in the development deadlock. While Charles P. Taft died on June 25, 1983, and did not live to see the Taft house restored and open for public visitation, he was likely heartened by the sudden rush of development activity and could rest assured that his long-held dream had taken a giant step toward reality.

<<< CHAPTER 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 8 >>>