Vol. 19, No. 35

July 6, 2000

Facilities Planning model adapted for U.S. Capitol

For the last several months, Marge McDermott, Facilities Planning and Construction, has been splitting her time between UD's Newark campus and the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Chris Leyenberger of CenterLine Associates called UD and arranged for staff members of the Office of the Architect of the U.S. Capitol (AOC) to visit the Newark campus and learn how UD addresses its short- and long-range facilities planning issues. "They selected our University," McDermott said, "because the University of Delaware is recognized as a national model for facilities planning. Also, campus environments are similar to the Capitol complex, which incorporates a number of buildings into its campus." McDermott said that each of the Capitol buildings--the U.S. Capitol, Senate and House of Representatives office buildings, Supreme Court, Library of Congress and Botanical Gardens–is directed by a superintendent, and the entire complex involves approximately 14 million square feet. UD's Newark campus involves about approximately 8 million square feet. At UD, McDermott is involved in the earliest stages of the major building projects on campus. Among her primary duties are defining the client's, or building occupant's, needs and coordinating these with the limitations of schedule and available funding to establish the project's programmatic need and scope. Because of her experience, last fall McDermott was invited by the Office of the Architect of the U.S. Capitol to assist its staff in formulating a 5-, 15- and 20-year plan for all its construction and facilities projects. The project, McDermott added, includes examination and planning for all of the buildings on the U.S. Capitol's 275-acre campus. Since February, McDermott said she has been involved in examining current and projected projects to formulate an integrated and comprehensive planning document. This will allow the AOC office, budget office and the House and Senate leadership to establish priorities and track and anticipate future construction and renovation.? Normally, an invitation to work on such an important undertaking would demand that McDermott take a leave of absence from her UD position. Since her Washington, D.C., counterparts could only meet with her periodically, it was agreed that McDermott would commute to her work site in the nation's capital several times a month and continue with her UD responsibilities during the balance of the time. As she sat in meetings with AOC staff and leadership representatives, McDermott said she realized the diverse demands of the competing constituencies, each of which has its own particular needs and agenda. The challenge for McDermott is to integrate the various needs of those who make use of the separate building jurisdictions. In addition to compiling and sequencing the projects, particular attention has to be given to a special issue–that the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives has the potential to change every two years. Accompanying this logistical, political nightmare is the fact that federal legislators are able to change individual offices as a result of seniority, based on election results. Also, committee changes can affect the make-up of the membership of the facilities planning groups, with which McDermott is involved. "Renovation and new construction have to be incorporated into the needs of the legislative bodies," McDermott said. "The government has to keep functioning. Essentially, the Office of the Architect of the Capitol is using Delaware's established planning principles as a tool to convince these changing constituencies of the need and importance of long-range planning. "But our plans also must be flexible and adaptable," McDermott added. "It's not unlike the challenges we in an academic setting are confronted with as research and programs change. We are accustomed to changes based on grant funding, departmental and college priorities and personnel changes." McDermott said she was amazed with the lack of centralized infrastructure programs, such as communications. She and her colleagues are addressing approximately 1,000 major projects in such diverse areas as telecommunications, life safety issues, mechanical, roadway, transportation and subway systems, underground tunneling and power plant and utilities production, as well as preservation and overall interior building renovations. "I've been in the catacombs of the building," McDermott said. "I've met with preservationists, architects, engineers, landscapers and leadership staff. "When I was first approached, I was hesitant. But, then I thought this would be an extraordinary opportunity. I think it's wonderful that one of the smallest states in our country has such significant input into the workings of this national treasure. I'm proud, as an employee, to represent the University, and I'm delighted that we're so well thought of and recognized as a national planning model," she said. Because she was issued an assignment of such broad scope, McDermott said that for a long time she has been learning how the current facilities operate and how they might be improved, that she had little time to appreciate being at the nation's capital. "I must have been down there several weeks before I had a full comprehension of where I was working," McDermott said. "The task is so engaging, so consuming. Then, there's the fact that you're passing people in the hall who are national leaders and important decision makers. One afternoon, after two very long days, I was walking toward Union Station, and I had made a turn and came out on the other side of the building. I was on a balcony and turned for a minute. I looked around and up, and the sun on the Capitol Building was brilliant. It can only be described as a spiritual event. I felt like I was in Oz. Then I thought, 'Goodness, I'm helping give shape to its future!' It didn't dissuade me, it just stunned me."