Wichita-Sedgwick Historical Museum Building Condition Assessment and Maintenance Plan

Case Forensics

From introduction: "At the request of Kathy Morgan, Senior Planner, CASE Forensics Corporation (CASE) personnel visited the Wichita-Sedgwick Historical Museum the week of September 22, 2014 to perform an exterior condition assessment of the building. The assessment was performed by Mark Liebman, Senior Forensic Investigator and Alec Liebman, Forensic Investigator with CASE. They were assisted by Jason Sandbo of Vertigo High Access Services, Inc. Mr. Eric Cale, Museum Director, provided access to the building and grounds. The Wichita-Sedgwick Historical Museum is housed in the Old Wichita City Hall Building. It was designed by the architectural firm Proudfoot and Bird, and built between 1890 and 1892. The building is constructed of large blocks of rough cut Cambridge Limestone. At the center of the structure is a large clock tower and the corners of the building feature round turrets. In 1938, an annex was added on the east side of the structure. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a significant historic building in downtown Wichita. The purpose of this assessment was to determine the condition of the limestone façade, windows, entryways, balconies, roofs and other elements of the exterior masonry envelope and to develop a long term maintenance plan for the facility. To facilitate the survey of the clock tower, rappelling (rope access) was employed; while a 60 foot articulating lift was utilized to assess the exterior walls. Representative images of the assessment program in progress can be found in appendix A. The scope of the assessment also included visual examination of the interior of the clock tower, exposed interior portions of the exterior walls via the 4th floor access above the ceiling at the north and south sides of the structure, and the plastered interior wall surfaces throughout. The assessment of the clock tower began on the south side of the tower. Our rappelling team (forensic assessor and rope rigger/standby rescue personnel) then proceeded to the west side. The following day the north and then east sides of the tower were assessed. The assessment of the building exterior via articulating lift began on the south side, proceeding to the east, north and west sides on subsequent days." Project funding was provided in part by a 2014 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Wichita (project number KS-14-006) administered by the Kansas State Historic Preservation Office (grant number P14AF00104) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Wichita, Kansas is a Certified Local Government.

Wichita-Sedgwick Historical Museum Building Condition Assessment and Maintenance Plan

Collections