Ease His Pain

It was in the fall of 1920 when a Grand Jury provided nine indictments for racketeering against eight Chicago White Sox players and five gamblers in what is known as the Black Sox scandal.  The players were alleged to have thrown the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, giving the Reds their first championship.  In an era before free agency, player earnings were rather limited.  They were beholden to their original team, and could not be signed by another.  The owners had the power. Needless to say, there was no 1919 equivalent of multi-million dollar annual earnings many professional players receive today.  One of the highest of the low paid White Sox players who was indicted was “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.  “Shoeless” Joe became famous to us non-baseball aficionados for his role, played by Ray Liotta, in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams.”  In the movie, “Shoeless” was the sports hero of John Kinsella, the father of film's protagonist--the upstart farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner).  We learn that Ray, acting as late aged teenagers act, riled his father by stating who would have a crook as a sports hero, a rift developed between the two that would last the remainder of his father’s life.  Ray, this wary farmer educated at Berkely during the height of the 60's culture, plowed under five acres of corn to build the Field of Dreams, local farmers probably thought drug use had done in his mind.  Yet, in so doing he would change his life and the ghosts of the Black Sox players. 

Black Sox Players

“Shoeless” Joe is said to have been illiterate, but yet would confess to being a part of the fix on the baseball championship series.  He later desired to recant his confession, but was unable.  As Ray was plowing under the corn to construct the field he regaled his daughter, who sat on his lap, with Shoeless Joe’s statistics during the series to explain why Joe was likely railroaded and not part of the fix.  One teammate, involved in the scandal says that they used Joe’s name to the gamblers in order to impress them with how committed most the team was to throwing the series.  Some of the players claim that the fix was never in place as they became too scared of the consequences of being found out, which they say explained the high number of errors.  Another player says they stopped the fix after not receiving the money, at $20,000 per loss, as promised after each game.  For some reason you cannot trust gamblers and mafia—go figure.  Too bad the “Godfather” story was not out in 1918, maybe they never would have planned it in the first place.  Regardless, they planned the fix. 

Acquitted, but Condemned by Commissioner Landis

It appears that some desire to blame Charles Comisky, the founder and owner of the White Sox.  Many claim that he was miserly, others say he was frugal.  There is fine line between the two.  Educated by the Jesuits at Chicago’s St. Ignatius Prep, one cannot doubt he was probably engaged with a level of frugality.  Was his level of frugality inappropriate?  One story, probably an urban legend, has it that the term Black Sox actually arose because Comisky would not pay to have the wool player uniforms cleaned, so the players wore the dirty uniforms fame after fame game until they became a darker color.  It is said Comisky finally had them cleaned, but deducted the cleaning from their pay checks.  If he was a miser, why did the White Sox did have the highest payroll in baseball in 1919?   Comisky would be no body’s fool, and he banned the players near the end of the 1920 season even though he knew it would cost him a championship. 

Field of Dreams Movie with some of the Black Sox Players

Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis was appointed the first commissioner of baseball in November 1920.  Even though the players were found not guilty in the summer of 1921, after a trial, the new commissioner would ban them from the game forever.  Attempting to support themselves and their families, the men attempted to put together some exhibition games, but the strong arm of Landis, apparently even stronger than that of current football commissioner Roger Goodell, would intervene and say that any who played with them would forever be banned from professional baseball.  The city of Chicago, presaging the scarcity of baseball championships, much less consecutive championships, in the city of big shoulders would also prevent them playing in the city.  The eight men, with John Kinsella as catcher, were left to meeting their dreams playing baseball in a fictional story as ghosts in the rich deep prairie soils of Iowa that usually grew corn.

Costner in Field of Dreams

The fictional story does more than simply ease the pain of Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and the other seven of the Black Sox scandal by allowing them to play among the corn of Iowa.  In one of my favorite sport movie endings, cars line the cardinal oriented roads near Dyersville, IA as dusk envelopes the well-tended corn fields and they slowly make their way to the Field of Dreams.  This eases Ray Kinsella’s financial pain.  They come, as character Terrence Mann puts it, to relive their childhood.  More importantly, Ray, in the end, was able bring back his childhood memories, and ease his own pain, by once again playing catch with his father on that early fall evening in Iowa as dew starts to settle on the manicured grass of a field a dream told him to build.  Childhood memories reinstated after being pushed back in a rift with his father over “Shoeless” Jackson.  

Three Days in October

Looking back in time you can probably find major historical events within any month.  Nonetheless it seems that October is an important month.  There was the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the October Revolution, the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Cuban Missile Crisis and the Raid on Harper’s Ferry.  Whether it is the changing of the season, the shortening days, or the coming of winter, October is a historically significant month.  This post will talk about the raid at Harper’s Ferry that began the dark of night on October 16 and ended in the daylight of October 18, 1859. 

John Brown

Led by the famed abolitionist John Brown, he of the tune, by Rev. William Patton, with the famous first line: “Old John Brown’s body lies moldering in the grave” would be the mastermind of the raid, and it would lead to his death for treason against the state of Virginia.  John Brown was a vehement abolitionist who strongly believed that bloodshed would be necessary to rid the nation of its peculiar institution.  To understand John Brown you need to understand Bleeding Kansas, and to understand Bleeding Kansas you need to understand the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and to understand the Kansas-Nebraska Act you need to understand the Missouri Compromise, and for the Missouri Compromise you need to understand the long tensions between free and slave states.

Bleeding Kansas

The Missouri Compromise set forth a latitudinal line such that states north of the line would be free, and those south of the line would allow slavery.  Overtime the south realized the inherent issue with more territory in the continent (north of Mexico) favoring free states.  They did not wish slave states to be outnumbered by free states.  Stephen Douglas (D IL) would derive the idea of self-determination.  The legislation he pushed is known as the Kansas-Nebraska act which would allow self-determination.  Adopted in May 1854, the debate over the act is said by some to be the beginning of the Republican party (founded in Ripon, WI in March of that year).  The act would lead to what we call blood shed in Kansas as both pro-slave and pro-emancipation settlers would move to the territory.  Violence was anticipated given the rifles and supplies that would go with the settlers.  John Brown, with his sons would kill five persons during the early part of Bleeding Kansas.  Brown would move back east to plan his raid on Harper’s Ferry.

Missouri Compromise Line

It was in 1959 that John Brown would undertake the act that would further split the nation.  Due to limited methods of news travel, it is not like the nation was on edge awaiting results of the raid.   He intended to capture the Federal arsenal and believed that slaves of Virginia would rise up against owners and he would have the bounty of the arsenal to supply them with guns and ammunition.  It did not work as planned, in part because there was no communication method to the slaves in bondage.  His plan of 200 to 500 slaves in the first night alone to assist in his operations did not come to fruition.  The task was left to him and his 18 co-insurgents.  Two of Brown’s sons would be killed during the raid. 

A militia group mainly composed of Baltimore and Ohio rail workers first attempted to subdue the uprising, and the task was later left to a company of US Soldiers led by Col Robert E. Lee.  President Buchanan would not order federal troops to the site until the mid-afternoon of October 17, so Lee was not long on the scene.  Lee would attempt to get the militia to attack, but they said no, and the job would fall to him.  Being a good commander Lee passed the effort down the chain of command, and J.E.B. Stuart would lead the effort.  These two men would become more famous due to the war that would begin with Fort Sumter less than two years later.  Brown’s group had raided a B&O train, but let the train move on which led to the report of his act, and the appearance of the militia on the first night.  Yet, there are more interesting circumstances.  Brown would have four of his men kidnap Col. Lewis Washington, great grandnephew of George, and steal two items: the first a sword given to George Washington purportedly by Frederick the Great, and two pistols given to him by Marquis de Lafayette.

Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, depiction in Oct 1959

The attack, however, did not have to occur.  Senators Seward and Wilson became aware of the planned attack by Hugh Forbes who had been hired by Brown to train his attack party.  Fobes' tattling  was not due a patriotic duty, but simply because he was not paid more.  Gridley Howe, a backer of Brown, had been persuaded by Senator Wilson to get Brown and his team to back down.  Brown found out and would take time out of his planning for Harper's Ferry to discredit Forbes.  David Gue, another abolitionist, also knew about the planned attack, and believed, like others including Fredrick Douglass, that it was a foolhardy plan that would only lead to death.  Gue wrote an anonymous letter to Secretary of War John Floyd, but Floyd discounted the letter due to an error as Gue said arsenals in both Maryland and Virginia in the plan of attack.  There was not an arsenal in Maryland, but the Harper's Ferry arsenal was just below the border with Maryland.  However, Gue specifically called out Brown as “old John Brown,’ late of Kansas.”  In a time before terror watch lists, or a man not in tune with what had been going on in the nation, Floyd says he never recognized the name.  Maybe it was purposeful amnesia, as the Buchanan administration was a south-friendly administration.  Seward would become Secretary of State in the Lincoln administration and he himself was almost killed the night Lincoln was shot as part of the overall plan by John Wilkes Booth. 

The final coincidence to mention, is that one man observing the hanging death of John Brown on December 2, 1859 was John Wilkes Booth. These are some of the coincidences of history which add interest to what is often perceived as a mundane topic.  Brown would presage the bloody nature of the Civil War when on the day of his execution he wrote:  "I, John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty, land: will never be purged away; but with Blood.  I had as I now think, vainly flattered myself without very much bloodshed; it might be done.”  Of course, the nature of day meant that Brown's trial would make him a martyr for the north, and hence the songs which arose in his memory.  John Brown’s body may be moldering in the grave, but his actions are not forgotten for those three days in October.

Fragmentation

Two distinct events on different continents occurred, one week ago, on the first day of October this year. One an act of evil, the other a declaration for independence. Both, however, involve history, and this post will be a brief examination of the role or history in these two events. Without history we would not know change, and today, sometimes, change seems to be occurring at an ever greater pace.

Mandalay Hotel, Las Vegas
Knocked out windows on the 32nd floor

During the early night of October 1 we all know that Stephen Paddock, a multi-millionaire and child of a bank robber who was once on the FBI’s most wanted list, went on a shooting spree in Las Vegas, NV. Articles on the event have talked about his father’s psychopathic tendencies, his gambling habit, and his plethora of guns. Investigators are attempting to find a motive for his action that warm fall night in the urban lights of Las Vegas. To look for a motive detectives look to his past, they delve deeply into his personal, financial, and family history. Who we are in character, is formed not just by our DNA, but also by our experiences, our relationships, and our interpretations of events. Or, as historian William Cronon puts it: “The past is the world out of which we have come to the multitude of events and experiences that shaped our conscious selves and the social worlds we inhabit.” In the case of Stephen Paddock, the question is what drove a successful (since earnings are culturally viewed as success) man to undertake such a horrendous act? Detectives are now historians interviewing past acquaintances and friends, delving deep into the record and paper trail of gun purchases and gambling, not to mention other life events and experiences of that led to Stephen Paddock’s 32nd floor hotel suite overlooking the festival grounds. As of today, there seems an increasing concern that a motive has yet to be found.  Mass shootings, unfortunately, have become a not irregular occurrence. One reason why investigators want to find a motive is to help further knowledge of the personality type of the criminal.

On the north shores of the Mediterranean Sea a completely different, and unrelated event took place. It too makes one wonder how history can explain the drive for the Catalonia to secede from Spain. The Catalanonian vote is but one in a recent history of successful or attempted separations, or fragmentation, of current states which has become common in Europe. There was the peaceful separation of Czechoslovakia (into Czech Republic and Slovakia), the break-up of the Balkans, the unsuccessful vote in Scotland to separate from Britain, and varied moves by the Basque region of Spain to separate. It is a paradox that at the same time as globalization is ever increasing in the world, we see fragmentation increasing, if not in practice than by desire. Does it represent a desire for self-recognition and determination? Or, perhaps change and globalization are leading to a yearning for a long lost past, and a desire of recognition of their cultural group.

Rally in Catalonia supporting secession from Spain

National boundaries are lines on a map, some of those lines are the result of treaties from past wars, some due to conquest, others relative to culture. As shown by the Catalonians, Scottish, and Basques there is an apparent desire for grounding and recognition. Wisconsin historian William Cronon has written something I fin relevant to this situation: “the past matters because public and private meaning are crucial to all that makes us human.” The collective remembrances help create a cultural identity and tie past to present. It is perhaps hard for an American, we a nation of immigrants, to understand the separatist desires of European cultural groups. Spain as we know it has been around since over 60 years before the American Declaration of Independence, although as was common at the time, it borders were set by conquest. Yet, Catalonia has over the intervening centuries maintained some aspects of their own culture, and that cultural identity seems to be ever increasing as time, and globalization move on. Although as a wealthy region of Spain, it may in large part be economic. But, economics cannot be separated from culture, nor from history.

Rather adamant on the collective value 

History shows that, while time frames may vary, integrations will often fail: think Roman Empire, British Empire, USSR, the Balkans. In other words, a boundary is not the only test of a nation. A nation is determined by its shared values, its shared ideas, its shared histories. To paraphrase the geographer Yi Fu Tuan, space becomes place when it is endowed with value. That occurs not only on the neighborhood level, or on the local level, but also at the state and national level. (Marshall Erickson a character on the long running TV show "How I met Your Mother" had a line that was to the effect that but for their nice nature, Minnesota would be just like Wisconsin.) These histories, the values and ideas of a people, form to bind people together. The past informs the present. Las Vegas detectives are looking to the past to find clues to inform about a terrible shooting. Spain and Catalonia are working through a divisive period informed by history.

Images from Google

Wrist Watch

Eighty-six years ago tomorrow, on October 4, 1931, the Dick Tracy comic strip debuted. The crime fighter comic, owned by the Tribune syndicate, is still in publication. When I was a child we used to receive three Sunday newspapers, one being the Chicago Tribune. It was likely that newspaper where I would read the Dick Tracy comic. I have not seen a Dick Tracy comic strip in years, so I am not sure of its relevance to the situation in the nation today. I do not know what the comic strip crime-fighting police officer would think of the national anthem protests by NFL players and teams, but I do know that the strip did change to be more relevant over time. The comic strip would regale readers with technological wizardry and use of forensic science long before Apple Corporation or the television show CSI.

In a strip in 1946, the year the baby boom generation would begin, the creator of the strip, Charles Gould introduced the two-way wrist radio. This device would allow communication with other members of the police force. It may or may not have been a secure network, and Dick Tracy never likely thought of the need for such radio security. In 1946 Russian hacking was not even a blip in the imagination of the Charles Gould, and it did not play the role it plays seventy years later. He would not have been aware of Equifax where hackers obtained information on millions of people. In 1964, the last year associated with the baby boom generation, the wrist device of Dick Tracy moved from radio to a television-type screen. This is likely the device with which I, when reading the comic, would be familiar as a child. I know I am not the only person to have been captivated by the wrist television and radio. The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, would note in 2015 how he had been waiting since the age of five to be able to communicate by phone on his wrist. His comment was probably a reference to the Dick Tracy comic strip. What Dick Tracy used was near reality with the Apple Watch introduced 51 years after it appeared in the comic strip. With the Apple Watch, you still need your I-phone, but you can track fitness, receive a phone call, do email, and send a Facebook message.

Apple Watch

Perhaps someday the functionality of the I-watch will increase to that of an I-pad. Yet, technology also brings challenges that Dick Tracy never had to deal with at the advent of his new technologies, but which now unfortunately are not uncommon for us to deal with in real life. Besides Russian hacking, and Equifax, there is the ever present Nigerian prince scam, but more importantly identity theft. Dick Tracy never used a credit card in 1964, so he did not have to worry about his card number being used to purchase items a 1,000 miles away. He did not have an internet connection (long before Al Gore even know of the internet), so he did not have to worry about his personal information being compromised.

What Charles Gould did was take what had become a common device by 1946 (radio) and 1964 (television) and miniaturize the items. The I-watch is going the other way, making watch faces larger in order to better read. Perhaps Gould’s greatest thought was miniaturizing a radio, as the television communication screen was a logical next step. Video conferencing is more and more becoming common place. As the baby boom generation is now retiring they see the millennial generation taking advantage of real life devices Dick Tracy made real for us boomers as we read his comic strips in the 1960’s. Real life imitating comics.

V or not a V

The sound between the letter B and the letter V can, many times, be similar. As a child I recall hearing my mother on the phone, and when she pronounced our last name, "Hovel", she would then spell it out "H-O-V, as in Victor,-E-L."  I use the same language today when spelling out my last name.  Confusion can often result over the pronunciation of the last name and the way it is spelled, spelling it out in this manner takes care of part of the potential confusion.  Is it a difficult last name to pronounce?  Even immediate family members do not share the same pronunciation.

1877 Martin Hovel marriage record
Source: Wisconsin Historical Society

The issue of the middle letter of the last name, is it a V or not a V, comes into play in two historical government (in the United States) records.  First, is the marriage license of my great grandfather Martin and his wife Amelia Duscheck.  The marriage license, written by a clerk, has his name spelled as "Habel", not Havel, Hovel, or even its then apparent spelling of Hawel in Czech records (which is odd, because it does not appear that W exists in the Czech language).  Second, is a Declaration of Intention by Martin's father, my great great grandfather, Josef Havel.  The name is spelled as Habel, but corrected to be Havel.  The last name is clearly signed as Havel.   This brings up the question of pronunciation of the last name.   Did Martin and Josef pronounce the last name in such a manner that the clerk spelled the as it sounded: H-A-B-E-L?  Given the confusion that can exist between pronunciation of a V and a B (why we use "Victor"), the use of the B can perhaps be discounted, but what is important is the use of A sound. That leads to the question of how best to pronounce the "O" in the last name.  The earliest record I have found for my (probable) ancestors uses what appears to be Hawel.   This 1703 Bohemian Roman Catholic marriage record is for Simon Hawel and his wife (Elizabetha), and identifies Simon as the son of Georgy Hawel.

Joseph Hovel citizenship record (1869)
Source;  UW Whitewater archives

My father had always said the last name is pronounced like "novel", but with an H, in other words like use of an ah for the letter O.  This is the way I pronounce the name today.  The historic use of an A in writing (as described above) which is likely from pronunciation, would seem to indicate a last name using an "a" related sound in pronunciation.  Often times the "a" sound when I pronounce the name is for naught as people have a tendency to emphasize the O; think of the pronunciation of  shovel, but without the S.   I have an older brother who pronounces it with emphasis on the 'o" as do distant cousins in Iowa and Northwest Wisconsin.  There is also the common tendency to pronounce the name as in Ho (line above or the long o) as in the greeting of Santa Claus--Ho Ho Ho.  My eldest son's birth due date was to be December 24, and by being born three weeks early he missed having the elegant (written) alliterative nature of the name Homer Howard Hovel even with an "ah" sounding O seems pretty neat.  While I suggested the name in deference to the Santa greeting, for some reason I get the feeling my wife did  not like that name.  Did she secretly wish for an early birth to avoid having to name her first child Homer?  But, I digress.  If Martin had pronounced the name using the sound in shovel or a ho sound the clerk would have written the name as Hobel or Hovel. Instead Habel, would seem to back up my father's pronunciation of it like novel but with an H.  I suppose it is possible that both Martin and Josef spelled out the name, but with a foreign accent the t the pronunciation of a V as a B was affected.

Marriage Record of Simon Hovel identifies him as son of Georgius, 8 July 1703
Source:  Czech Digital Records, Lhenice 1 image 102

The word hovel in English is a shed or storage building.   The first pronunciation of the English word "hovel" is as if in "shovel,"  At some point our current last name was seemingly Americanized, and another post may perhaps detail some of the history of our last name.  There are residents in Wisconsin whose family came from England and share the same last name and spelling of "Hovel".  The name in Bohemia, from where my ancestors originated, is spelled as Havel or Hawel.  What is apparent is that the meaning of the Havel in Czech is certainly more noble than the English definition.  Havel is a Bohemian version of the name Gall or Gallus (Roman) which originates from Saint Gall (abt. 550-646).  St. Gall, of Irish descent, was one of the companions of St Columbanus, and together brought learning back to the European continent after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Czech Index Record for marriage of Simon notice date for record
Index, book 50 of digital records
(One reason research is difficult--look at letter formation)

What is interesting in the last name is its relation to geography.  It is reported that the Celts of Ireland actually are descendants from what Julius Caesar referred to as the Boii, north of the Alps.  The geographic name Bohemia is derived from Boii.  So, our last name (Havel and Americanized as Hovel) in recognizing the Irishman St. Gall would also recognize that the Celts who originated from the Central European tribes known as the Boii.  By what appears to be an Americanization of the spelling of our last name did our ancestors intend to differentiate the pronunciation from that in the old country, or was it more to assimilate to American culture?  Our ancestors were not WASP's, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, instead they were of Slavic descent and Roman Catholic, and in this situation would be subjected to the era common prejudices against Slavs and Catholics.  We may never know the reason why the spelling of the name was changed for many in the family.  What we do know is that, in the end, if Josef and Martin had used "V as in Victor" there may not have been confusion with a "B",  and the discourse over pronunciation over the letter O in the name will continue despite what I believe to be historical records to the contrary.

Yellow Jacket Attractor

Wasps, which include yellow jackets, are common this time of year.  This past Saturday I pulled up spent bean plants in the garden and while lifting the large pile to take to the compost bin I felt a sting on my right shin.  I used my right hand to swat away whatever stung me and that is when I noticed a yellow jacket between the fingers of my glove. I am glad I decided to wear a pair of gloves.  The funny thing is, I had, earlier that day been thinking of how few wasps I have seen this fall.  Usually they are rather prevalent, and especially like to hang about whatever you may be eating/drinking when outside.  As fate would have it, for a yellow jacket attractor like myself, at the same time I had also thought that this may the one year I get by without getting stung by such a creature.  Fate intervened, and I found myself with my first sting of the year. 

After completing my chore, the pain started to increase so I put some ice on the bite area.  After about 15 minutes, I got up to complete other chores, but the pain was still present so my wife put a wrapping around the ice bag to hold it to my leg.  Ice certainly helped salve the sting.  Later in the day,  I mixed baking soda and some water together and covered the bite area.  Curiously, at times this this seemed to alleviate the pain and other times to make it more intense.  My first recollection in the use of a baking soda poultice was when I was a young teenager helping my grandfather on the farm.  Opening up his oil shed one time I was attacked by some wasps, but luckily only received one bite.  Grandpa made the baking soda poultice to place on the bite.  Leave it to an old farmer, I recall thinking, to have a simple remedy for such a bite.  I think Grandpa smoked the wasp nest later that day.  The pain from last Saturday’s wasp bite lasted about 24 hours.  This bite made my mind recall the worst wasp situation in which I have been.  While helping my Dad and getting wood from a brush pile I was attacked and bitten by several wasps; my left arm was bitten several times.   The arm swelled and ice and an antihistamine were able to assist with the pain. 

Yellow Jacket

At work on Monday, a building inspector, Jack, got bit about halfway between the thumb and wrist by a bee or wasp while inspecting a complaint.  In the early afternoon  his hand swelled rather large, and the swelling was working its way up the arm.  When I asked if he felt any swelling in his mouth or airway, he said he was breathing fine, but noted that another coworker told him to watch his tongue, to which he noted he often hears that advice.  He did take the advice to go to urgent care.  Seeing another building inspector later in the day, I inquired if he had heard back from Jack.  He said he had not but would send him a text to see if his arm was amputated.  I suggested he find out if the amputation was above or below the elbow.  Some odd work humor.    Anyway, I am glad that my bite did not swell to that extent that Jack had for his hand and arm.  Otherwise, I would have had a tip to urgent care.  Tuesday morning the swelling in Jack’s hand and arm was less, but still rather great.  Jack noted that, while at urgent care, they gave him a syringe, from which they had taken the plunger out, and told him to drink the medicine, with the provider saying that they have found it better to drink than to give as a shot.  I thought it an odd way to dispense medicine, and perhaps UW Health saved a paper or plastic cup. 

Everyone has a different reaction to bee or wasp bites.  I know my mother was allergic to bee bites.   Jack noted that the doctor had told him that he can make a poultice using Lowry seasoning, which helps reduce the effect of the sting.  The natural acidity of the bite is counteracted by an enzyme in the seasoning.  (Although, depending upon the insect bite, the poultice of Lowry or baking soda may make it worse, apparently.)  Another simple solution, although I suspect baking soda is more prevalent than Lowry seasoning.  Which is more effective?   I don’t know.  I am not sure if a Lowry poultice would have reduced the swelling, but if it had Jack would not have had to drink medicine out of a syringe.

Three Plus years

Working for a growing city provides regular challenges, but every so often a project comes along that provides satisfaction. For over three years I have worked on the West Fitchburg Fire Station as the city's project manager.  Thirty-one years and a few months ago when I began my employment with Fitchburg I was asked to take over the addition to the fire and police station that had been bid and was under construction.  The problem was that change orders were already out of hand.  This occurred, in part, because the fire chief at the time started adding back in things that had been taken out to bring it within budget.   Last week, on a cool, but sunny Friday afternoon, was the Uncoupling ceremony for the new Fitchburg Fire Station.   To say that the construction of this replacement station began as a hot potato would be an understatement.  The project design and construction spanned over three years, and three mayor’s. The first of the three demanded a re-do, which we did prior to designing this station, of the original space needs study as he was not convinced of the need for relocating both city fire station.  Both existing fire stations were built at a time when the department was basically paid-on-call, but it has now moved to a combination department with two fully manned stations.  It is more efficient to relocate two stations then to build and man a third station.  Of course, city growth has played a large factor in the need for relocation.  Into this maelstrom, I was assigned the task of managing the fire station projects.  It is better to have control from the start than to take it over after construction began. 

Fitchburg Fire Station 2, Marketplace Drive

It took longer to design the building than to construct, and part of that was due to changing demands, although the main delay was the several months for an overloaded legal staff to review the agreement with the architect. A new Mayor (mayor 2) was elected in 2015 and he desired a station that would be sustainable, low maintenance, and long-lasting.  The increase in cost to meet these standards will be more than offset by lower operational costs.  If the building had been constructed as first anticipated it would have been a metal building with no interior wall to cover the insulation in the apparatus bay.  Replacing a twenty year old station, that had its share of problems, demanded a new approach, and the second Mayor promoted a long-lasting sustainable approach.  One would have thought with the Mayor's backing the process would be easier, but it did not.  Demands were made regarding review of material options, detailed cost and operational analyses. It is not that these are wrong, but they lead to more time.       

Kitchen

 The building is sustainable through use of LED lighting throughout the full project, low-flow plumbing fixtures,  radiant floor heating and cooling powered by sixteen wells each 400 feet deep, no-mow fescue-prairie grass for much of the lawn area; solar hot water, and within a month a 91 kw solar photo-voltaic system.  The use of radiant floor allowed the use of concrete as the main flooring option, even for the bunk rooms.  Stainless steel in the kitchen and metal cupboards allow for long-lasting materials.  Geo-thermal and radiant heat and cooling increased the cost per square foot, but it is a better heat option allowing for more even heat.  Radiant heating is becoming standard in truck bays.

Day room.  Like the recliners?

Building projects always pose unknown items and that is particularly true of bid projects.  Unlike school districts, by law cities have to bid construction projects.  To avoid issues of finger pointing as we saw when the city used a multi-bid approach on the library, I decided it best to use a general prime bid so the general contractor would be responsible.  This project had its share of issues required to be addressed and options weighed. The plumbing designer and the structural engineer did not talk to each other leading to changes in depth of column footings, and no structural support for the solar hot water panels had been provided.  Fire staff, even though I asked that they make sure they have the amount of power where they need it, did not mention to the design team the need for 100 amp service for the tank to fill their breathing tanks.  It finally became known as they were prepared to move in.  The HVAC designer forgot to place air filters on the in-take air vents, which is crucial to the air handling equipment.  However, with all of the challenges, net change orders are less than 1% of the construction bid amount of $5.1 million.  With credits due back for some built in private utility connection allowances, the city will get money back. If you have been involved with a construction project, this is a phenomenal outcome.  By comparison, the city of Madison requires their projects to carry an eight percent contingency fund going into construction.

Uncoupling Ceremony, Presentation of the Colors

Building construction today is not as simple and direct as it once was. Technology can be wonderful, but it also can have problems. One benefit was the engagement of a commissioning agent to review system operational plans and to make sure they are working as designed. It was this extra set of eyes that caught the lack of intake air filters. This person also caught other aspects to improve building efficiency. He tested the equipment to make sure it met the design specifications. He was well worth the $18,000 cost. Beyond the bid, the city had to arrange for installation of a number of systems to make a usable long-lasting building for the 21st century. The project manager had to obtain bids, get contracts and arrange for fiber optic installation, patch panels and server installation; video system, door security system, wireless internet system, phone and computer system, and the all important station alerting system. With a donated stove it was also necessary to obtain a valve that was connected to the station alerting system to shut down the stove when a fire call came in. If it did not have walls, the building could be held up by cables and wires.

Ceremonial hose uncoupling

 Buildings are not about the construction.  In this case it is about function for response time.  After all the new location was chosen to offer better response time within the community.  That is the reason for relocating the two fire stations.  It is also about live-ability as the station is occupied seven days a week, 24 hours a day.  The Uncoupling Ceremony provided for a variety of speakers.  In a time when the flag is being disregarded, the ceremony had presentation of the colors inside, and at the conclusion, all were invited outside for the raising of the American flag on the flag pole as revile was played on the bugle.  The flag raising represented the opening and operation of the building where the flag will fly seven days a week, 24 hours a day.  When I first heard the term Uncoupling Ceremony, I thought it sounded like the celebration of a divorce.  Yet, to firefighters it has a specific meaning, and one that had not occurred to me.  When they uncouple a hose, it means their work in the field is done, they can go home, home to the fire house.  The work on the new fire station is now complete, it is now not a fire station, but a fire house. With over three years invested in the project it is rewarding to see it so well received.    

Raising of the American Flag

Images from City of Fitchburg