New windows because of salt, not terrorists

Note to Rumor Central: The window replacement work at two Loopfederal buildings and the nearby post office has nothing to do withbomb scares or concerns over terrorist attacks against thegovernment.

It has everything to do with rock salt, though. Years ofsalting the granite plazas at the complex has corroded the windows'metal frames, causing stresses that cracked the glass panes.

Massive windows in the Kluczynski Building lobby were replacedTuesday, the latest step in an 18-month project to replace the406-pane window system of lobby glass in the three buildings. Theproject began in February, 1996, and is expected to be finished bymid-summer.The $6.6 million project is an effort to spruce up and modernizethe Dirksen, Kluczynski and post office buildings - the ChicagoFederal Center bounded by Jackson, Clark, Adams and Dearborn. Thecomplex is considered among architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's bestwork.But the project's scale and the sight of workers toiling behindsecretive-looking plywood shelters has given birth to a rumor: Thegovernment is fortifying the buildings to ward off terrorist attacks."Not at all," said Jeff Pavur, General Services Administrationconstruction coordinator. "The project was designed about threeyears ago and it started a year later. But unfortunately, it(started) about the time of the Oklahoma (City) bombing."The work occurs as other key Mies buildings in Chicago are beingretooled. Mies' One Illinois Center - now called 111 E. Wacker - isgetting a $12 million upgrade, including a remodeled lobby.The work at the Federal Center is one of the largest effortssince its completion 23 years ago. Workers will replace corrodedlobby window frames with stainless steel. Other portions will besandblasted and repaired.Existing half-inch plate glass won't be salvaged, however; citycode now mandates tempered glass. The larger sections of plate glassweigh nearly 2,000 pounds.In addition to the window work, courtrooms were added andlobbies are being reworked in the Dirksen Building. The woodenshelters were put up to protect visitors and passersby from leadpaint being removed from old window framing.Once completed, the buildings' exteriors will look no different,GSA spokesman David Wilkinson said."They treat these van der Rohe buildings with some reverence,"he said.The complex was built between 1959 and 1973. Mies was thechief architect, but Schmidt, Garden & Erickson, C.F. MurphyAssociates and A. Epstein & Sons also worked on the project.They created the 42-story Kluczynski Building, the 30-storyDirksen and the single-story postal station - setting the threestructures on a generous granite plaza. Funding problems delayed theproject's completion. Mies died in 1969 before the final buildingwas finished.

New windows because of salt, not terrorists

Note to Rumor Central: The window replacement work at two Loopfederal buildings and the nearby post office has nothing to do withbomb scares or concerns over terrorist attacks against thegovernment.

It has everything to do with rock salt, though. Years ofsalting the granite plazas at the complex has corroded the windows'metal frames, causing stresses that cracked the glass panes.

Massive windows in the Kluczynski Building lobby were replacedTuesday, the latest step in an 18-month project to replace the406-pane window system of lobby glass in the three buildings. Theproject began in February, 1996, and is expected to be finished bymid-summer.The $6.6 million …