Last update: 08/14/2008

Campus update archive

Garage repair work set June 20 – 30

Parking for visitors, some tenants closed during the project

The upper two floors of the three-story General Administration parking garage at Columbia Street and 11th Avenue will be closed for repairs from 6 p.m. June 20 until 6 a.m. June 30.

A contractor hired by GA will repair damaged concrete and steel rebar in the ceiling between the middle and upper floor. The project also calls for the contractor to apply a new coat of waterproof sealant to driving surface of the upper level of the garage, the visitor parking area, and then repaint the parking stalls.

GA Building tenants who park on the second floor of the garage will be assigned to the Governor’s Mansion parking lot during the project.

Campus visitors who use the visitor lot on the upper level of the garage can find parking on the north diagonal, just off of Capitol Way. The oversized-vehicle lot, on the west side of the GA Building, is another parking option for campus visitors.

The lower level of the garage will be unaffected. People who park there can continue to do so during the project.

For more project information, contact Darlena Heglund at (360) 902-7321 or dheglun@ga.wa.gov

  • For more information about Capitol Campus parking, contact the GA Parking Office at (360) 725-0030 or go to the parking website.

Repair project partially closes Cherry Lane June 5 - 8

A minor road repair project scheduled to start June 5 will restrict traffic to one lane at the intersection of Cherry Lane and the Flag Circle on the Capitol Campus. The work, which begins around 7 a.m., should be done in one day, but the partial closure of Cherry Lane will extend through June 8.

The project will repair cracked concrete pavement. The area was repaved last summer after a new stormwater line was installed there. The pavement work is under warranty, so the contractor will make the repairs at no cost to the state.

During the work, only one lane of Cherry Lane will be open to traffic where it intersects with the Flag Circle drive. The entrance to the Flag Circle from Cherry Lane will also be limited to one lane. A traffic flagger will be on site.

While the contractor – Global Contractors of Olympia – expects to finish the project in one day, the lane closure will continue because the concrete must harden before it can be driven on.

No parking stalls should be affected.

The partial closure will not affect the Dash shuttle, the free bus service that runs between the campus, downtown Olympia and the Olympia Farmers Market.

Thank you in advance for your patience as we complete this infrastructure work.

For more project information, contact Nathaniel Jones at (360) 902-0944 or njones@ga.wa.gov

Memorials and grounds readied for holiday

General Administration is particularly busy this week getting the campus ready for the upcoming Memorial Day activities, including some maintenance work that has never done before.

In addition to the usual tidying up of the grounds and planting annual flowers, GA hired a contractor to do some maintenance work on a handful of Capitol Campus war memorials.

The contractor – Yi & Associates of Olympia – is cleaning and making some minor repairs at the Vietnam Veterans, World War II, Medal of Honor and POW/MIA memorials.

The work is mostly focused on the Vietnam Veterans and the World War II memorials.

Here is a brief snapshot of the work:

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

  • Hand scrub the granite wall and all granite surfaces using natural bristle brushes and solution of water and non-ionic detergent. This type of detergent is not soapy, like a typical home product. It reduces droplet formation on stones surface and is found to produce better cleaning results on metal and stone surfaces.
  • Pressure wash flat concrete surfaces using a rotating washer set at a very low pressure.
  • Replace glass blocks in the step at the base of the wall. Replace light fixtures inside step and fasten the facing stones to prevent displacement.
  • Drill out holes in strips between granite sheets for flag placement. Small pieces of wooden flag handles, which were placed in the holes in the past, have broken off plugging the holes.
  • Weed and prepare the planting beds, and remove litter and debris.

World War II Memorial

  • Hand scrub the donor brick border around the entire memorial using natural bristle brushes and solution of water and non-ionic detergent.
  • Hand clean the bronze wheat stalks and bronze leaves.
  • Pressure wash flat concrete surfaces using rotating washer set at a very low pressure to protect donor tiles.
  • Gently pressure wash stones and raised concrete surfaces, taking care not to damage in-paint engraved lettering.
  • Remove debris and litter in the bronze wheat field.
  • Weed and dress planting beds, remove litter and debris.
  • Apply a bird deterrent gel.
  • Replace flags with new ones.
  • Check lighting fixtures and replace any burned-out bulbs.

POW/MIA/ Medal of Honor memorials

Hand scrub the granite wall and all granite surfaces.

Memorial repairs

GA received nearly $300,000 in capital funding from the 2008 Legislature for repairs to the World War II and Vietnam Veterans memorials, work that is scheduled for later this year.

At the World War II Memorial, the repairs are expected to include:

  • Fix the soil drainage issue around the memorial to prevent silt and standing water for collecting on the sidewalks and donor tiles.
  • Fix damage to some of the donor tiles. Replacing the damaged tiles may prove to be more cost-effective.
  • Repair or replace broken and missing bronze wheat stalks

Expected repairs of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial include:

  • Re-engineer the lighting system in the step at the base of wall to improve the function, energy efficiency and ease of maintenance.
  • Caulk and repair the mortar joints around the entire memorial, to prevent water from penetrating and damaging the memorial.
  • Repair granite where needed.
  • Investigate and possibly address the drainage issue at back of wall.

Work is already underway to restore the bronze finish of the sculptures atop the Winged Victory Monument, a memorial constructed to honor the soldiers, sailors and marines from the state who lost their lives in World War I. The original finish of the monument, dedicated in 1938, was removed by cleaning treatments in the 1970s and 1980s. When the project is completed later this year, the bronze sculptures will be restored to their original “warm brown” color. GA is waiting for cost estimates and schedule information from contractor. Work is expected to begin in July. Additional details will be provided in future campus updates.

Beautifying the campus grounds

GA’s grounds staff is busy making the campus extra beautiful for the holiday by planting nearly 12,000 annual flowers, with more than 100 different varieties. Most of the annuals were delivered recently, so not all will be in the ground by Memorial Day. But the grounds staff should be done planting around the memorials by the end of the week.

Summer painting season begins - Multiple projects will have minor impacts on traffic and parking

This is the time of year when General Administration begins its annual exterior painting maintenance projects. The work includes re-striping parking lots and repainting curbs, crosswalks and roadway markings. It is done from now through summer because of dry weather and warmer temperatures.

The painting is done to help keep campus tenants and visitors safe.

Work began a couple of weeks ago with the re-striping of the new Dash shuttle service bus stop at the intersection of Jefferson Street and Maple Park Avenue, near the state Department of Transportation building. Next up will be painting projects on the west campus.

This will include re-striping parking stalls along Sid Snyder Avenue, behind the Pritchard Building, about two-thirds of the stalls at the Governor’s Mansion parking lot, and repainting various crosswalks, curbs and pavement markers, such as stop lines, centerlines and directional arrows. GA painting crews will move to east campus by mid-summer, including re-striping sections of the Plaza Garage and Natural Resources Building parking lots. The Labor and Industries Building parking lot will be done during a summer weekend.

There is no exact schedule for the work because it is dependent on the Northwest’s peculiar weather.

Some areas of campus must be repainted annually because of heavy use and direct exposure to weather. Other areas, such as the covered parking garages, are repainted every four to five years.

GA tries to keep the impacts caused by this work to a minimum. For example, some painting is done very early in the morning, before regular business hours.

While there will be no major vehicle or pedestrian detours caused by this year’s projects, occasional temporary closures of crosswalks and single lanes of campus roadways will be necessary.

The paint GA uses is fast-drying, taking as little as 90 seconds in ideal conditions. However, it is best to avoid driving or walking on areas with “wet paint” signs.

GA will keep you updated throughout the summer on any painting project that is likely to cause significant disruptions to driving, parking or walking on the Capitol Campus.

Project will improve security in parking garages, save energy

General Administration begins work this week to improve safety in Capitol Campus parking garages, while also cutting energy costs. The project will boost lighting levels in the garages by replacing the current fixtures with more powerful, yet energy-efficient ones.

Two employees from an energy services company under contract with General Administration will perform a lighting audit on May 6 and 7 in the Department of Transportation, Plaza, GA and Columbia Street garages. The employees, on foot and wearing safety vests, will be counting fixtures and measuring lighting levels.

Once the lighting audit is complete, the energy services company will recommend replacement lighting systems that offer the most cost-effective way to increase light levels while cutting energy use. The actual replacement work will begin in 2008 or 2009 depending upon funding.

The lighting audit is the latest in a series of projects that are part of successful long-term effort by General Administration to cut energy use in state buildings. Electricity use on the Capitol Campus, for example, has dropped from an average of about 6.6 million kilowatt-hours in 1992 to about 4.4 million kilowatt-hours in 2008, thanks to conservation projects managed by GA.

The campus energy savings is roughly equal to the amount of annual electricity use of about 200 Northwest homes and reduces carbon dioxide emissions - a "greenhouse gas" - by more than 800 tons, the equivalent of removing about 113 vehicles from the road.

General Administration achieves these savings by using energy-performance contracts. This is a technique for financing conservation projects by using the cost savings from reduced energy consumption to repay installation costs. The utility savings cover the installation costs within ten years.

More information about General Administration's energy conservation program is available online.

DASH shuttle stops change locations on May 5

Intercity Transit is changing locations of a Dash shuttle service bus stop. Dash is the free transit service that serves downtown Olympia and the Capitol Campus.

The shuttle service will no longer stop at the Capitol Campus visitor parking lot at Wheeler Avenue and Jefferson Street beginning May 5, 2008.

The Wheeler lot is being closed for construction of two new office buildings and a computer data center for the State of Washington.

The bus stop is being moved to the corner of Jefferson Street and Maple Park Avenue, near the Department of Transportation building.

The Dash shuttle operates from 6:45 a.m. until 7:15 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Dash route goes through the Capitol Campus, along Capitol Way to and from the Olympia Farmers Market.

Dash also operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, but bypasses the east Capitol Campus.

Tour Capitol Lake’s native plants on April 30

One of the best places in Thurston County to view ducks, eagles, hawks and other native songbirds is along Capitol Lake. A primary reason is the abundance of native plants, which provide food and cover for the birds. The importance of native plants will be the subject of an upcoming walking tour on April 30.

Perry Lund, shoreline specialist and botanist with the Department of Ecology, will lead a walking tour of the Heritage Park Wetland Mitigation area at Capitol Lake from noon to 12:45 p.m. April 30. General Administration and Ecology are co-sponsors of the tour.

Lund will explain what types of native plants can be found at the lake and what the state is doing to restore wildlife habitat there.

The tour is one of two local events that are part of a statewide celebration of native plants. Gov. Chris Gregoire has proclaimed April 27 through May 3 to be Native Plant Appreciation Week. The purpose is to promote education about the more than 3,000 native plants that inhabit deserts, rain forests, alpine meadows and even backyards throughout Washington.

Permitting for the construction of Heritage Park in the 1990s required the creation of some new wetland habitat along the lake. Ecology and General Administration finished constructing the artificial wetlands in 1999, near the southwest corner of the lake just off of Deschutes Parkway and the Capitol Lake Interpretive Center trail.

The wildlife habitat of this artificial wetland was further enhanced in March 2003 when more than 150 local citizens planted 6,000 native plants as part of a community event. This area now provides a unique recreational opportunity for viewing native plants and wildlife in an urban setting.

Learn more about Native Plant Appreciation Week at: http://www.wnps.org/npaw/announcement.html

Parking garages set for sweeping in May

General Administration will sweep parking garages on the Capitol Campus over the next two weeks. The work will be done between 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Here is the schedule:

  • May 3: Garages at Department of Transportation, levels A and B, and Natural Resources Building, P1 level.
  • May 4: Natural Resources Building, levels P2 and P3, and Office Building 2, service level.
  • May 10: Plaza garage, levels A, B, C.
  • May 11: Plaza garage, levels D, E, F.

Capitol Campus project update: http://www.ga.wa.gov/Campus/update.html
General Administration: http://www.ga.wa.gov/

Updates 4/16/08

All Capitol Campus is a stage,
all the men and women merely players

“Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love”
-- Hamlet, Act II, scene ii

William Shakespeare’s most famous play “Hamlet” will be the subject of filming around the Capitol Campus on April 18.

A class project at Elma High School will involve filming at various locations on the campus that day. Four students will film a scene from Hamlet and use fake swords to stage fight scenes.

The group will film on the grounds near the main entrance of the Legislative Building as well as the north foyer and rotunda.

The filming is scheduled between 2:30 and 6 p.m.

And, as they say, the play’s the thing.

Tough but careful scrub makes progress for graffiti removal

A lot of elbow grease and a little more additional expert advice have allowed General Administration to almost entirely rid the north side of the Legislative Building of recent graffiti.

Two areas at the entry are almost completely clean with just a slight amount of color remaining. The work is tougher with the graffiti on the one sandstone pillar that vandals tagged with red spray paint. However, only a slight amount of shadowing is visible.

Crews used a fast-acting stripper with a pressure washer rinse several times to get the desired results, which included protection of the building’s historic surfaces.

Higher temperatures – whenever they arrive – will help GA finish work on the pillar. The stripper works best under warmer conditions.

Cascade Masonry has provided assistance with the current work.