Capitol Tour Highlights Courtyards and HVAC Projects

Tour guides include (left to right) Matt Hansen, Capitol Preservation Architect and PAL Board member; Roxanne Smith, Capitol Tourism Supervisor; and Paul Bauman, Project Manager with Alvine Engineering.

On a rainy May 24, 2022, a tour group of about two dozen interested preservation advocates participated in the Preservation Association of Lincoln’s informative and inspiring “Capitol Heating & Cooling Upgrades & Courtyard Tour.” These current projects in the Nebraska State Capitol have been planned and are being carefully implemented to protect and preserve the architectural integrity of Nebraska’s iconic Capitol, which has been listed as a National Historic Landmark since 1976. Leading the tour were three guides who are directly involved with the projects: Matt Hansen, Capitol Preservation Architect and PAL Board member; Roxanne Smith, Capitol Tourism Supervisor; and Paul Bauman, Project Manager with Alvine Engineering.

Courtyards Project

When the Capitol was nearly completed in 1932 after a ten-year pay-as-you-go construction process, work on the courtyards was postponed due to the Great Depression. The long-delayed courtyard project was not revived until 2014, when the state legislature authorized $2.5 million for the courtyard fountains and landscape restoration. Another $500,000 that had already been appropriated to the Capitol Commission was added to the project in 2015. The courtyard project includes the installation of four custom-built bronze fountains and walkways designed in conformance with architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue’s (1869-1924) original conceptual drawings, and plantings in conformance with landscape architect Ernst Herminghaus’s original plans. Herminghaus (1890-1965) was born in Lincoln. He graduated from the University of Nebraska with a horticulture degree in 1913 and then graduated from Harvard University’s landscape architecture program in 1915.  Herminghaus returned to Nebraska and became the first practicing landscape architect in the state. In September 2017, the new courtyard fountains were dedicated. The Nebraska Association of Former State Legislators had initiated a campaign to raise $1.4 million for landscape restoration in the courtyards, including an endowment to fund future landscape maintenance. Nearly all of the plantings were in place at the time of the PAL tour.

Capitol Preservation Architect Matt Hansen describes the four courtyards that have been designed in accordance with landscape architect Ernst Herminghaus’s original designs.

Capitol Preservation Architect Matt Hansen describes the four courtyards that have been designed in accordance with landscape architect Ernst Herminghaus’s original designs.

Work on the new fountains, walkways, and plantings in the Capitol courtyards is nearing completion.

One of the new fountains — one in each of the four courtyards — designed and custom-built in accordance with architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue’s original conceptual design.

The PAL tour group soaks in the grandeur of the Capitol entrance corridor while hearing about the HVAC project from Paul Bauman, Project Manager with Alvine Engineering.

Ground floor corridor before removal of the 1960s-era suspended ceiling that concealed air-handling ducts and required shortening of chains suspending the custom-designed lamps.

Ground floor corridor after removal of the suspended ceiling, now revealing the restored original ceiling and the original-length chains suspending the lamps.

Fully-restored ground floor corridor after removal of air-handling ducts concealed by a suspended ceiling.

Capitol Tourism Supervisor Roxanne Smith points to a photograph of the heating and air-conditioning registers that existed high on the walls of the Court of Appeals Chamber before the new HVAC system was installed and the room meticulously restored.

Due to numerous failed thermopane glass seals, as seen here on windows in a Capitol courtyard, the original window frames are being carefully restored, weather-sealed, and refurbished with single-pane glass.

HVAC Project

The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) portion of the PAL tour included an overview of the project, which the Nebraska Legislature initially approved in 2014. Following an initial two-year planning and design phase, this project, which is replacing the building’s 1960s-era HVAC system, was projected to require eight years to complete, at a cost of $106 million. The planning and design phase of the project concluded that a closed-loop ground source geothermal system would be the most energy efficient and cost effective over the long term. The geothermal well field for the system — 225 wells, each 670 feet deep — is located on a currently vacant state-owned city block bounded by 17 th , 18 th , K and L Streets, one block northeast of the Capitol. Pipes were bored underground to connect the well field with the Capitol. Work on the project is being phased quadrant-by-quadrant, with the sequential project work areas defined by the four courtyards of the building. The final phase of the work will be in the Capitol tower. When work is underway in one of the quadrants, all regular occupants (Senators and staff) are relocated within the building, and all furniture is temporarily removed. When the HVAC renovations are complete, the Capitol will get heating and air-conditioning simultaneously at any time of the year, thus ending the abrupt seasonal changeovers from heating-to-cooling-to-heating that were required in the old HVAC system. Many of the offices throughout the building are gaining square footage with the removal of the old HVAC system’s perimeter duct work. All offices will have individual controls for heating and air-conditioning. A fire sprinkler system is being added to the first, second, and third floors. Fire alarms are being upgraded. The approximately 1,000 windows in the Capitol are being repaired and restored. Offices are getting new carpeting and paint. This tour gave all participants a close look at current work that will significantly enhance the comfort and experience of all persons working in and visiting the Capitol. For more details, including documentary photos of various Capitol historic preservation and restoration projects, see “The Capitol Sower,” an excellent newsletter of the Capitol Commission, accessible at https://capitol.nebraska.gov