Progress of the Building Project for the Motor Vehicle Division, 2006

Pursuant to Section 1 of House File 466 of the 81st General Assembly, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is required to make quarterly reports to the Legislative Council regarding the progress of the building project for the Motor Vehicle Division. Progress of the Building Project for the Motor Vehicle Division. A report to the Iowa Legislature, per Section 1 of House File 466 of the 81st General Assembly.

Quarterly Report of the Building Project for the Motor Vehicle Division

Pursuant to Section 1 of House File 466 of the 81st General Assembly, the Iowa Department of Transportation is required to make quarterly reports to the Legislative Council regarding the progress of the building project for the Motor Vehicle Division. During the quarter ending June 30, 2007, the project was delayed by two weeks. The Motor Vehicle Division moved into the new Ankeny facility on June 22 and was operational Monday, June 25. The driver's license stations reopened as scheduled Tuesday, June 26, at the Ankeny facility as well as the Oliver Plaza renewal location.

Space Utilization and Building Study for the Department of General Services, October 9, 2000

Purposes of this Report: • Recommend the most logical and economical options to address state governmental space needs in the Polk County metropolitan area to the year 2010. • Include building size, location, phasing, financing, method of project delivery and estimated cost. • Develop a software tool to compare costs of leasing vs. ownership of space. Methodology: Identify: 1. Current amount and location of owned and leased space, by agency; 2. Types of space and whether best located on or off of the Capitol Complex; 3. Utilization of space, noting over-crowding and under-utilization; 4. Current number of workstations for full and part time employees, Personnel Employment Organization (PEO) workers, contractors, interns, etc.; and, 5. History of staff levels to assist in the prediction of staff growth. Scope: This report focuses on 10 state-owned buildings located on the Capitol Complex and 48 leased spaces in the Polk County metropolitan area. (See Figures 1 and 2.) • Due to a separate space study under way by the Legislature, implications of area and staff for the State Capitol building are included only for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Secretary of State, Auditor and the Department of Management. • Because it is largely a museum building that does not have office space available for other agencies, the area and staff of the Historical Building are not fully addressed. • Only the parking implications of the new Judicial Building are included in this study because the building space is under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Branch and not available for other agencies. Several state-owned buildings are not included in the scope of this report, generally because they have highly focused purposes, and their space is not available for assignment to other agencies. Several leased locations are not included for similar reasons, including leases that do not fall within the authority of the Department of General Services.

The Iowa State Capitol Fire 1904, November 2012

The twenty-first century Iowa State Capitol contains state-of-the-art fire protection. Sprinklers and smoke detectors are located in every room and all public hallways are equipped with nearby hydrants. The Des Moines Fire Department is able to fight fires at nearly any height. However, on Monday morning, January 4, 1904, the circumstances were much different. By the beginning of 1904, the Capitol Improvement Commission had been working in the Capitol for about two years. The commissioners were in charge of decorating the public areas of the building, installing the artwork in the public areas, installing a new copper roof, re-gilding the dome, replacing windows, and connecting electrical lines throughout. Electrician H. Frazer had been working that morning in Committee Room Number Five behind the House Chamber, drilling into the walls to run electrical wires and using a candle to light his way. The investigating committee determined that Frazer had left his work area and had neglected to extinguish his candle. The initial fire alarm sounded at approximately 10 a.m. Many citizen volunteers came to help the fire department. Capitol employees and state officials also assisted in fighting the fire, including Governor Albert Cummins. The fire was finally brought under control around 6 p.m., although some newspaper accounts at the time reported that the fire continued smoldering for several days. Crampton Linley was the engineer working with the Capitol Improvement Commission. He was in the building at the time of the fire and was credited with saving the building. Linley crawled through attic areas to close doors separating wings of the Capitol, an action which smothered the flames and brought the fire under control. Sadly, Linley did not live long enough to be recognized for his heroism. The day after the fire, while examining the damage, Linley fell through the ceiling of the House Chamber and died instantly from severe head injuries. The flames had burned through the ceiling and caused much of it to collapse to the floor below, while the lower areas of the building had been damaged by smoke and water. Elmer Garnsey was the artist hired by the Capitol Improvement Commission to decorate the public areas of the building. Therefore, he seemed the logical candidate to be given the additional responsibility of redecorating the areas damaged by the fire. Garnsey had a very different vision for the decoration, which is why the House Chamber, the old Supreme Court Room, and the old Agriculture offices directly below the House Chamber have a design that is very different from the areas of the building untouched by the fire.

The Glass Floor.

A photographic and video record of the project to recreate and reconstruct the glass floor for the opening between the ground and first floors in the rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol. The original glass floor was removed in the early 20th century, but the decision was made to put a new one in to help improve the acoustics and air flow in the building.