Name: Power Plant. Original name Central Power Plant and Engineering Building.
Date: 1910
Architect: T. H. Poole
Builder: Boyle Robertson Co.
Elevation: 155.70'
Use: Supply heat and power to the campus. Also is home to the administrative offices of facilities maintenance, including custodial services and engineering.
Style: Ornate Industrial; could be termed Late Victorian with Flemish gables.
Composition: Rectangular with smoke stack on an addition at west end.
Size: Three stories plus basement.
Gross square footage—31,919.
Net square footage—16,711.
Materials: Red brick
Trim: Stone for lintels and water table, brick pilasters and corbelled cornice, projecting gables (sometimes called Flemish gables) ornately rise above roof; stone cap and ball at corners.
Roof: Slate gable roof, metal covering on ridge monitor with standing seam roofing, iron roof trusses.
Stacks: A major landmark, yellow clay tile stack at west end, two black metal stacks top the monitor on main building, several minor metal stacks on addition
Windows: Generally double-hung wood sash; two windows per panel between pilasters on basement and first floor, most second floor windows triple with leaded glass arched transoms; circular window in east gable end.
Doors: Original wooden doors with glasslights and transoms. Service and/or loading doors were flush and above water table; personnel entrance with a masonry stoop and iron handrail; at least one second floor set of windows had panels below, it would appear, for large equipment access.
Note: An industrial design with little outward change.
Setting: Free-standing facing John McCormack Road, N.E., surrounded by paved parking lot and service facilities near the Metrorail pedestrian campus entrance, near railroad to once facilitate coal delivery.
Architecture: The Power Plant is one of the few industrial buildings on The Catholic University of America campus. Its carefully detailed style is reflective of late- 19th-/early-20th-century design and craftsmanship. Brick walls are broken into vertical panels containing the windows and doors between brick pilasters. Simple, elegant horizontal stone trim forms the water table, sills and lintels. Another horizontal stone band accentuates the second story transom line. The projecting, ornamental Flemish-style gable ends rise above the roofline with curved trim flourishes at the ridge—concealing the ridgeling light monitor. The brick cornice corbelling and leaded second story transoms add a richness of detail.
History: The Power Plant originally supplied both power and heat for the campus, an early example of coal fired steam electrical generation combined with a heating facility.
Significance: The Power Plant is functionally important, architecturally significant, and nearing its centennial although its use has been modified. Its historic significance and monumental presence contribute to the vitality and character of the campus. It is reputed to be one of the first electric and heat producing campus infrastructure facilities of its kind in the area. The Power Plant is a contributing building to the architectural and historic qualities of the campus.
Condition: Boiler equipment replacements, through a guaranteed energy savings agreement, were completed in the fall of 1999. The roof on the addition was replaced during the energy project but replacing the roof on theoriginal section is still an urgent need. New windows and an interior renovation of the second floor for the relocation of custodial services were accomplished in 1996. The relocation resulted in the demolition of the old Service Annex/Reardon Hall on the south campus. A small addition on the north side of the building for storage of custodial supplies was completed in March 2004, as well as a fire alarm system upgrade.
Floor Plans
Last Revised 04-Oct-05 12:42 PM.
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