THOLOS | VOLUME 21 1

THOLOS

VOLUME 21

FEATURE

Employees Lead 

U.S. Botanic Garden 

Horticultural Renovations

AGENCY 

INITIATIVES

Creating Our Legacy

EMPLOYEE 

HIGHLIGHT

The Path to Becoming 

an Architect 
2 THOLOS | VOLUME 21 THOLOS | VOLUME 21 3

14 14

FEATURE AGENCY INITIATIVES EMPLOYEE HIGHLIGHT

DOING GOOD:

Surviving to Thriving

PROJECT UPDATES: 

Covering the Home Team

FEATURE: 

Employees Lead U.S. Botanic 

Garden Horticultural Renovations

AGENCY INITIATIVES:

Creating Our Legacy

EMPLOYEE HIGHLIGHT: 

The Path to Becoming an Architect

14 22 26

14 EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION: 

Kudos to You

28

4

10

TA B LE O F CO N T EN T S

PROJECT UPDATES

4 14 22 26

TA B LE O F CO N T EN T S
4 THOLOS | VOLUME 21 THOLOS | VOLUME 21 5

WRITTEN BY JUSTIN KIEFFER

COVERING

THE

HOME

TEAM

PROJECT UPDATES

WWriters often have trouble figuring out how to 

start a story. They think about how to grab 

attention before the reader checks how many 

pages the story is and decides, instead, to spend 

those minutes sorting through email or watching 

videos online. 

Stories are often about the deeds done by others 

and sometimes those deeds are not that interesting 

— think about baseball sportswriters that must find 

something to interest readers about the home team, 

even at game 137 of the season when all the stars 

have been traded and the Single-A players called 

up can’t get past first base. Finding a hook can be 

hard and writers rarely know how many people 

actually read the words they painstakingly put 

together to hit their word count minimum.

At the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), a writer 

has the opposite experience. The AOC’s team is 

stacked with all stars that always make the playoffs. 

The amount of talent needed for all the projects 

around the Capitol campus is high, and fortunately 

the AOC boasts a deep bench of employees that 

can get you up on your feet while the starting 

lineup is announced.

For this article our leadoff hitter is Jennifer 

Rheaume, the Senior Project Manager responsible 

for the Russell Exterior Envelope Project. This 

project is in its third and final sequence, which 

has encompassed five phases of work. The scope 

includes restoration of more than 545 modillions, 

973 balusters and 625 windows (some of which are 

more than 100 years old); mitigation of life-safety 

Photo by Thomas Hatzenbuhler 

Photo by Thomas Hatzenbuhler 
6 THOLOS | VOLUME 21

hazards; and improvements to the building’s energy efficiency. 

“Paramount challenges we overcame on 

this project were to understand the construction technology behind the historic 

windows, the limited technical know-how 

of today’s craftsman, and the associated 

restoration time line while balancing a 

fully functional and operational building 

and staff,” says Rheaume. “Our focus has 

always been on how to reduce our impact 

on the important day-to-day activities at 

the Senate.”

The original concept was to build miniature partition walls in the offices to screen 

off the window restoration work, but the 

time line and spatial impact was less than 

desirable for stakeholders. The solution 

was to install temporary Plexiglas sashes 

while restoration of the historic sashes 

was performed off-site. This concept 

resulted in the significant mitigation of 

One of the 625 fully 

restored historic 

window sashes 

and frames for the 

Russell Exterior 

Envelope Project. 

construction impact on the suite 

occupants and the Senate community. 

The actual window restoration was another 

challenge as many of them were no longer 

fully operational or had missing hardware 

and needed weather sealing. Many of the 

windows were missing glazing, had rotten 

wood sills and major deterioration of the 

frames and muntins (the supporting strips 

between adjacent panes of glass) from the 

weather and impacts of time. 

Fortunately, COVID-19 impacts have been 

minimal to date due to the spacing of work 

shifts, adherence to social distancing and 

groups of workers “podded” when close 

contact work was unavoidable. 

As the project nears completion it is safe 

to say the Russell Building squad propelled 

the AOC team to a game lead, but even 

when you’re ahead, you still need a full 

bullpen to win.

545

MODILLIONS

973

BALUSTERS

625

WINDOWS

Russell Exterior 

Envelope Project

Photo by Thomas Hatzenbuhler 
THOLOS | VOLUME 21 7

Photo by Thomas Hatzenbuhler 
8 THOLOS

| VOLUME 21

The ESPC included 

retrofitting 208 

fixtures containing 

antiquated mercury 

vapor lamps with 

a custom LED kit 

that preserves the 

aesthetic of the 

original fixture 

while providing 

improved color 

rendering, color 

temperature and 

energy efficiency. 

Photo by Luke Walter
THOLOS | VOLUME 21 9

Fortunately for the AOC, our relievers 

come in the form of employees in charge 

of our energy savings performance contracts (ESPC), which are responsible for 

saving energy across the Capitol campus. 

ESPCs, which the AOC previously 

implemented for the House and Senate 

office buildings and the U.S. Capitol, are 

innovative financial mechanisms allowing government agencies to contract for 

energy efficiency and water improvements. 

The contractor is reimbursed based on 

measured and verified energy savings 

from the capital improvements and 

energy upgrades during the contracted 

performance period. 

The AOC’s latest ESPC was implemented 

for the Library of Congress (LOC), 

which is responsible for protecting and 

maintaining 168 million items, including 

more than 38 million books, 4 million 

audio recordings and other rare items and 

collections in its buildings. It is imperative 

that all the items’ recommended environmental conditions are met. This ESPC 

will implement energy savings control 

strategies based on these requirements, to 

properly preserve every item.

The AOC and LOC are working on 

improving energy usage across the six 

LOC facilities ( John Adams Building, 

Thomas Jefferson Building, James 

Madison Memorial Building, St. Cecilia’s, 

the Fort Meade Book Storage Modules 

and the Packard Campus for Audio-Visual 

Conservation). Most of the lighting work 

— a major element for all buildings — is 

almost complete, with only the Jefferson 

Building needing the lighting upgrades. 

Additional remaining work in the LOC 

buildings includes installation of new 

transformers and thermostats, upgrades to 

the building automation controls, as well 

as final commissioning. 

After completion of the project, which 

is expected in the summer of 2022, the 

ESPC will provide significant energy 

savings (about 22.4 percent reduction) and 

water savings (about 25 percent reduction), increased equipment efficiency and 

reliability, and reduction in gas emissions. 

That will be a lot “saves” for one team. But 

as most professionals say in post-game 

interviews — winning is a team effort. 

There are many more projects across the 

Capitol campus and the team members on 

those efforts work just as hard to deliver 

wins for the AOC. It is the teamwork of 

all the employees that get the hits, wins 

and saves that ultimately bring about a 

successful year. Even if the writer fails to 

entice people to read the story, the team 

still went out there and won. 

Library Buildings & 

Grounds Energy Savings

22.4%

ENERGY 

REDUCTION

25%

WATER

SAVINGS

AOC employees lead the 

agency to a championship 

year after year. 
10 THOLOS | VOLUME 21 THOLOS | VOLUME 21 11

SURV I V I N G

TO

THRIVING

WRITTEN BY ERIN COURTNEY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SEAN GREENE

DOING GOOD
12 THOLOS

| VOLUME 21

Losing one family member is tough. 

How does anyone deal with multiple 

losses? Architect of the Capitol 

employee, Milton Lee Dennis, has 

survived a lifetime of losses. Everyone experiences loss, but it usually 

follows a long life or extended illness. 

When individuals face untimely losses, 

assumptions about fairness, justice and 

control are called into question. 

When he was a young child, Dennis’ 

parents separated after years of alcohol 

abuse and violence in the household. 

Dennis’ father, after struggling to care 

for five children alone, began asking 

extended family members to care for 

the siblings. Before Dennis could be 

placed with another family, he witnessed his father’s suicide. 

“What happened was never talked 

about, I never spent a moment in 

therapy or counseling, I was told that 

I acted like a normal child so I should 

be fine.”

In about 10 years’ time, the cycle 

of violence repeated itself. Dennis’ 

stepbrother, whom he loved deeply, 

died of suicide. 

By 2002, Dennis felt that the dark 

cloud over his family had lifted. He had 

become a successful entrepreneur and 

had hired a nephew to work in the family business. The uncle and nephew were 

close and enjoyed working together. 

As the autumn leaves began to fall, a 

darkness again descended on the family. 

The beloved nephew died of suicide. 

The loss of his nephew and recent death 

of his mother from alcoholism, resulted 

in Dennis and his older brother growing closer than they had ever been. “We 

talked many times about our hurt and 

pain, how we could not understand why 

there was so much loss in our family,” 

said Dennis. 

That was what made July 20, 2014, so 

difficult to endure. “I was fishing and 

got a call to return to the dock. When 

I arrived, I could see everyone waiting 

for me. They looked upset,” said Dennis. 

“I asked what was going on, what 

happened? The response stunned me. 

My brother had died of suicide.”

Through loss after loss, Dennis had 

created a barrier that he believed 

protected him from pain and helped 

“ I deliver 

a positive 

message of 

surviving 

loss to let 

others know 

that sharing 

provides 

comfort and, 

hopefully, 

breaks the 

stigma of 

mental health 

challenges.”

MILTON LEE DENNIS

Milton Lee Dennis smiles as he sits beside his father in what was the family's final photo together. 

Photo provided by Milton Lee Dennis 
THOLOS | VOLUME 21 13

him cope with tragedy. It was after 

the loss of his brother in 2014 that he 

found this wall was not the answer. 

Determined to face this loss differently, 

Dennis sought the aid of the Employee 

Assistance Program (EAP) to better 

manage his feelings and to support his 

personal and professional growth.

“For the first time in my life I said out 

loud, one by one, to each of my family 

members, I forgive you — I love you — 

I miss you. That made the difference in 

my life,” said Dennis.

Determined to help others who may 

be experiencing similar trauma, Dennis 

began working with the American 

Foundation for Suicide Prevention 

and the Preventing Unnecessary Loss 

through Suicide Education task force. 

He shares his story to let others know 

they are not alone, and to provide hope. 

“I deliver a positive message of surviving loss to let others know that sharing 

provides comfort and, hopefully, breaks 

the stigma of mental health challenges,” 

said Dennis. “I also was afraid of what 

people would think if they knew the 

A family photo shows Dennis' brother 

Calvin, who passed in the summer of 2014. 

Photo provided by Milton Lee Dennis

AMERICAN FOUNDATION 

FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION

If you or someone you know 

are experiencing a crisis, help 

is available. Call 800.273.8255

or text TALK to 741741.

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL RESOURCES

Employee Assistance Program

The EAP is a free, voluntary and confidential program that strives to assist AOC 

employees as they work through stress 

and personal or professional challenges. 

The EAP is a valuable resource to help you:

DEFINE problems you are facing

DEVELOP a plan of action

LEARN new or strengthen existing skills

IDENTIFY sources of help

While EAP services are free of charge 

to AOC employees, costs associated 

with outside community resources, 

1

2

3

stories of loss that I have experienced. 

As each loss occurred, I began to speak 

more and more, the feeling of relief to 

get that off my chest made the difference in my survival. I speak openly 

about all four family members who I 

lost to suicide. Talking about it with 

EAP and friends has been the best 

therapy I could have ever given myself.”

Dennis is driven to share his story with 

others. “It makes a huge difference 

when someone can relate to you, and 

you can connect with them. It could 

save a life.” 

Having a purpose, even amid 

profound grief, often sustains people 

who have experienced unspeakable 

losses. Dennis has found such a 

purpose, and with it hope and a drive 

to help others struggling with mental 

health challenges. 

“The pain never goes away, but I’ve 

learned how to cope and channel those 

feelings into something good,” Dennis 

said. “I want others to know that they 

can succeed too.”

treatment facilities or practitioners are the 

responsibility of individual employees and 

their insurance providers.

EAP confidential voicemail system 

available 24/7: 202.226.2546

Support Website Espyr 

Espyr is a behavioral health website, which 

provides helpful resources like articles, 

videos, training, screenings and monthly 

webinars. To access Espyr:

Go to www.espyr.com

In the upper-right corner, click "log in"

Enter password: aoceapt

TalkNow

TalkNow offers immediate, 24/7 telephone 

access to confidential, counseling support 

delivered by qualified behavioral health 

professionals, no appointment necessary. 

To learn more, call 202.226.2546. 
14 THOLOS

| VOLUME 21 THOLOS| VOLUME 21 15

While the U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) Conservatory has 

been closed during the pandemic, many employees have 

helped offer online programming to engage the public and 

several employees stepped up to lead improvement projects 

inside the Conservatory. The Tropics, Primeval Garden 

and Orchids houses all received additional attention from 

members of the Horticulture team. The goals underlying each 

of the three projects were to improve the growing spaces and 

to showcase more of the USBG’s permanent plant collection.

The USBG living plant collection is the foundation of the 

institution. Maintaining an ordered, documented, labeled 

collection of plants is essential to the USBG’s mission of 

promoting botanical knowledge. The USBG maintains 

approximately 12,000 permanent accessions that are used for 

exhibition, study and exchange with other institutions. The 

Conservatory houses showcase different groupings of plants. 

Some are organized by native habitat, like World Deserts 

and the Tropics, while others are grouped by theme, such as 

Medicinal Plants and Orchids. Four USBG Horticulture 

employees made critical contributions to improving growing 

conditions and plant displays over the past year to better 

showcase the USBG collection.

Employees 

Lead U.S. 

Botanic Garden 

Horticultural 

Renovations

FEATURE 

WRITTEN BY DEVIN DOTSON 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY THOMAS HATZENBUHLER

Arborist Shaun Abell, 

who helped install the 

new, higher fogger 

system, at the top of the 

Tropics house.
16 THOLOS | VOLUME 21

PRIMEVAL GARDEN

Gardener Santos Carrillo has cared for 

the Primeval Garden room for most 

of the past decade. This area showcases 

plants descended from those that grew 

during the time of the dinosaurs, particularly in the Jurassic period. Carrillo 

had noticed that one of the planting bed 

holding walls had started to decline over 

the last few years, reducing the width of 

the pedestrian pathway and providing 

less-than-optimal growing spaces for 

plants in that area.

Carrillo developed a plan in consultation 

with others at the USBG, and began with 

gusto, removing all the rocks in the holding wall, cleaning them and then building 

the wall anew. Carrillo added larger rocks 

to build a more secure structure that 

would function as a retaining wall. He 

used a special binder that would hold the 

rocks together and allow plants to grow 

on them. The older wall had been made of 

smaller rocks that could more easily move 

over time and was bound together by a 

material that impeded plant growth.

Carrillo created spaces for approximately 25 additional plants in the new wall 

and planting areas. He also made the 

pedestrian pathway wider and more 

accessible in the process, making it easier 

for pedestrians to move through with 

strollers and wheelchairs, and for visitors 

to pass each other as they walk through 

the house. New cycads and ferns from the 

USBG permanent collection were added 

to the room, with the cycad Macrozamia 

moorei being Carrillo’s favorite new plant, 

because it currently looks like a pineapple.

“I am very happy to accomplish this project 

for the agency,” said Carrillo. “It was a 

project that needed to get done, and I was 

proud to take the lead to get it completed.”

This new darkleafed orchid being 

planted by Gardener 

Benjamin Gutman 

is one of more than 

40 new species of 

plants added into 

the Tropics house 

during employee-led 

renovations.
THOLOS | VOLUME 21 17

25

SPACES FOR 

ADDITIONAL PLANTS 

IN THE NEW WALL AND 

PLANTING AREAS

Gardener Santos Carrillo 

secures a new plant into 

place in the renovated 

Primeval Garden 

retaining wall.
18 THOLOS | VOLUME 21

At right, the plants 

of the Tropics 

house benefit from 

increased humidity 

generated by a 

newly installed 

fogger system. 

Below, Arborist 

Stephen Jones and 

Gardener Benjamin 

Gutman, who led the 

renovations in the 

Tropics house.
THOLOS

| VOLUME 21 19

THE TROPICS

The 93-feet-tall Tropics house features 

plants from tropical forests around the 

world and is the largest greenhouse in 

the Conservatory. Stephen Jones and Dr. 

Benjamin Gutman, who both care for 

USBG tropical plants, collaborated on 

two renovation projects that brought new 

life to the Tropics house.

In November 2019, the Horticulture 

team inventoried every plant in the 

Tropics house, with the goal of better 

following the USBG collections policy 

by removing plants that were not part of 

the permanent, accessioned collection. 

A number of noncollection plants were 

identified that had accumulated from 

previous exhibits and displays. Three beds 

in the southern part of the house were 

mostly housing noncollection plants and 

the soil needed a renovation.

Jones and Gutman removed all the 

noncollection plants and excavated several 

feet of the old, depleted soil. They built 

new soil that will function in the space 

for many years. When the team discussed 

what plants to feature there instead, a 

large torch ginger from the collection 

was already in the bed and served as an 

inspiration. Gutman scoured the USBG’s 

tropical plant collection and landed on a 

display of more than a dozen species from 

that same ginger family (Zingerberaceae).

“I wanted to display the great diversity 

of the ginger family,” said Gutman. “The 

new plants show distinct shapes, sizes and 

colors of leaves plus different flowers and 

flowering times.” The new plants range in 

size from a ground cover species that is 

only 6 inches tall to others that will grow 

to 6 or 7 feet.

For the other plants in the area, the duo 

prioritized showcasing tropical plants 

in the USBG collection not already repre-

sented in the room. A key consideration 

was the location of the beds and their 

small size. They are in a high-traffic area 

with doors heading to the World Deserts 

and Medicinal Plants houses on either 

side of the beds, so they wanted to choose 

plants that would have interesting blooms 

or foliage at eye level.

Gutman said Nesocodon mauritianus is a 

particular favorite among the new plants. 

The purple bell-shaped flowers have red 

nectar — an unusual color for nectar. In 

its native Mauritius, the red color attracts 

geckos, which serve as pollinators. It 

grows on rocks and cliffs, so they added 

rocks into the display to grow this plant, 

as well as some other tropical orchids and 

begonias that grow on rocks.

“We’re always looking for new ways to 

display our collection for the public,” 

said Jones. “There are a finite number of 

places inside the Conservatory to display 

plants, so it was great to be able to 

reassess a particular space and find new 

ways to creatively display more of our 

collection plants.”

The pair also renovated a separate bed 

with an overgrown tulip tree, which had 

become a maintenance concern, requiring 

pruning as often as once a month with 

lots of intricate climbing work. They 

decided to cut most of the tree down and 

use the stump and log as planting spaces 

for smaller epiphytic plants ranging from 

spike mosses to a hanging cactus. This 

replicated a scene from a tropical forest 

where the tree might have been broken in 

a storm. In total between both projects, 

the two installed more than 40 new plant 

species in the Tropics house.

As a third improvement, Jones collaborated with the Operations team to install 

a new series of foggers at the very top of 

the Tropics house, to keep temperature 

and humidity at higher, more consistent 

levels. Humidity had previously been 

dropping when cooling had been needed 

in summer months. Jones and fellow 

Arborist Shaun Abell used their specialized climbing expertise to work at the 

top of the house in coordination with 

Operations team members working on 

the high catwalk. The new fogging system 

is successfully moderating temperatures 

and humidity.

40

+

NEW PLANT 

SPECIES IN THE 

TROPICS HOUSE
20 THOLOS | VOLUME 21

ORCHIDS 

USBG Orchid Gardener Dr. Benjamin 

Crain saw several challenges in the 

Orchids house that were not supporting 

optimal orchid collection display. He led 

renovations to rebuild several stone walls 

and hardscaping, transform the waterfall 

that had stopped functioning into a new 

seeping wall and overhaul the soil.

The project made the house safer, improving stability of the hardscape elements 

that the employees use for moving 

through the planting beds. Excess roots 

from the central ficus tree were removed, 

and the walls and rocks surrounding the 

pond and beds were rebuilt to be more 

solid, while also delineating separate 

planting areas. Debris was removed and 

the pockets in the wall were custom 

shaped to better hold the orchid pots for 

stability and to keep them raised above 

the rocks to receive more light.

The new seeping wall now has water 

flowing down the rock face, which will 

raise the humidity to the benefit of the 

orchids. Crain added new permanent 

ferns and moss as a living, green background for the orchids that will hang in 

that area of the room.

Crain replaced the deteriorated, 

debris-filled soil with new, healthy soil; 

planted multiple species of terrestrial 

orchids in the new soil; and attached 

some epiphytic orchids onto the ficus tree. 

Orchid Gardener 

Benjamin Crain 

pauses for a photo 

in front of a wall he 

renovated in the 

Orchids house. 

“ Projects like 

these also give 

employees a 

chance to be 

creative. It’s 

been great to see 

them using their 

knowledge and 

inspiration...”

JIM ADAMS

HORTICULTURE MANAGER

The Orchids house had never had any 

orchids permanently planted in the soil in 

the room. The new permanent plantings 

feature beautiful foliage in addition to 

their blooms and were strategically placed 

to hide functional elements.

“I feel there is now a clean, solid slate for 

the Orchids house,” said Crain. “It is safe 

and will better allow us to display the 

many orchids in the USBG collection.”

TRIPLE WINS

“These employees are experts on the 

plants they grow in their areas,” said Jim 

Adams, Horticulture Manager. “Being 

closed to the public has been hard on 

the employees who enjoy sharing the 

plants they care for, but we’ve tried 

to use this time as an opportunity to 

safely increase our collections on display 

and visitor access.

“Projects like these also give employees 

a chance to be creative. It’s been great 

to see them using their knowledge and 

inspiration, while working with others in 

the Horticulture and Operations teams 

to map out the best path forward for 

the Garden.”

These employee-led improvements are a 

triple win, generating improvements in 

safety, access and display for USBG visitors and employees while also benefiting 

the USBG’s plant collection.
THOLOS | VOLUME 21 21

The Orchid house 

renovations made the 

house safer as well as 

improved planting areas 

for the terrestrial orchids 

through removal of excess 

roots from the ficus tree 

and refurbishment of the 

ground-level planting area 

with new, healthy soil.

3

THESE EMPLOYEE-LED 

IMPROVEMENTS ARE 

A TRIPLE WIN!
22 THOLOS

| VOLUME 21 THOLOS| VOLUME 21 23

our

Legacy Creating

AGENCY INITIATIVES

The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) has spent the last year 

building the foundation for several key strategic initiatives 

to facilitate the launch of our organizational transformation. 

Now that plans for these strategic initiatives have been 

developed, we are operationalizing these efforts in the agency’s 

new Strategic Plan, which is available on Compass. The 

Strategic Plan will manage and track progress of the strategic 

initiatives, which will enable the agency to build a safer, more 

inclusive and more effective workplace. 

This update focuses on the initiatives aimed at increasing 

efficiency, safety and proactivity at the AOC: Vision 2100/ 

Capitol Complex Master Plan/Strategic Plan, Enterprise 

Asset Management (EAM) and Building Official.

WRITTEN BY DR. GANELLA SMITH

Photo by Thomas Hatzenbuhler 
24 THOLOS

| VOLUME 21

A clear and synchronized 

enterprise-level vision is 

needed to guide leadership 

decisions at the Capitol 

complex. This series of initiatives support an enterprise 

solution to ensure the AOC 

takes a more proactive, 

unified approach to maintaining the Capitol complex. 

They also provide a defined 

direction and represent 

a vision that unites the 

Architect’s goal setting and 

achievement perspectives in 

service of Congress and the 

Supreme Court. 

This series of initiatives will 

be complete when we have 

developed, documented 

and communicated our 

three-pronged approach 

for future planning — the 

completed Vision 2100, 

Capitol Complex Master 

Plan (CCMP) and the 

AOC Strategic Plan. Vision 

2100 will help shape the 

future of the Capitol complex 

over the next 50+ years. The 

CCMP will facilitate the 

planning necessary to accomplish Vision 2100 in 20-year 

increments; the Strategic 

Plan will provide guidance, 

prioritization and resourcing 

with an outlook of five-year 

increments. 

We put together an experienced team of visionaries, 

futurists, urban planners, 

organizational development 

and strategic planners, and 

other subject matter experts 

both internal and external to 

the AOC who have begun 

mapping out how to approach 

change for the future of the 

AOC. Over the next few 

months, we will be uncovering 

challenges the AOC faces as 

we look at maintaining the 

Capitol complex over the next 

50 years and beyond. We will 

also be taking a deeper look at 

what does and does not need 

to change, and if there are any 

roadblocks that would keep us 

from making needed changes. 

These important initiatives 

will rely on feedback from 

AOC employees throughout 

the agency. We all play an 

important role in taking care 

of the Capitol complex now 

and leaving a legacy for the 

future. Check Compass for 

any potential opportunities 

for you to contribute to 

Vision 2100. 

Vision 2100/Capitol Complex 

Master Plan/Strategic Plan

1

Photo by AOC Photo Branch
THOLOS | VOLUME 21 25

Our facilities and grounds 

host people from around the 

world. We intend for the 

Capitol complex to be a place 

of safety for our people and 

our customers. At the AOC, 

we have multiple internal and 

external entities responsible 

for life, health and safety 

without a unified approach 

to code compliance. Without 

consistent standards or a 

permitting system to guide 

our projects, we spend valuable 

time and resources on rework 

to address code deficiencies. 

To mitigate this rework and 

threat to safety, the AOC 

has established a Building 

Official program to improve 

safety and code compliance 

oversight that will keep our 

iconic buildings maintained 

for future generations.

As part of the fully implemented Building Official 

program, all facility 

construction efforts will 

undergo plan reviews, 

construction inspections 

and construction acceptance 

testing. The Building Official 

will also document code 

compliance based on the 

new standards with building permits, certificates of 

completion and certificates 

of occupancy. These steps will 

ensure all work performed at 

AOC-managed facilities and 

grounds will consistently meet 

established building codes and 

enterprise facility standards.

This summer, we designed and 

implemented a permitting 

process and started piloting 

several projects. We are just 

beginning, but we have had a 

tremendous amount of support from many of you. Thank 

you for your commitment to 

safety and the AOC mission 

to serve, preserve and inspire. 

Please visit Compass for 

periodic updates and for more 

information on the Building 

Official program.

2

3

To be good stewards of our facilities at the AOC, we need a strong 

plan and user-friendly systems for addressing and reducing the 

maintenance backlog. We also need agencywide methods to improve 

asset performance, monitor for out-of-date technology, understand 

asset durability, and recognize the impact of asset use on tasks such 

as repair and replacement. EAM is a series of systems that help solve 

these problems by keeping track of assets and monitoring usage 

through an asset’s life cycle. We have been carefully researching 

EAM programs to find a system that works best for the AOC. Once 

we find a match, we will test it to ensure that it will indeed work to 

meet our unique needs.

When fully implemented to industry standards, EAM will set forth 

unified agency maintenance standards. EAM will also improve the 

efficiency of AOC asset use and reduce long-term costs and maintenance backlog in a measurable way. EAM will be an excellent 

tool to support employees; it will ensure the availability of the most 

up-to-date and useful resources to get the job done well. Greater 

reliability will mean you face fewer untimely and unforeseen repairs 

or out-of-service assets.

We have begun evaluating our current assets to better understand 

how to make the most of EAM systems. We want to understand the 

condition of our assets and begin to develop a road map for continuous improvement across the agency. We are at the very start, but we 

have initiated planning for our long-term asset management strategy 

at the AOC.

As we continue on this journey to modernize how the AOC tracks 

and maintains assets, we hope that you will look for opportunities to 

help support this effort. Compass is a great place to check for updates 

and opportunities to get involved.

Enterprise Asset Management

Building Official Program

Photo by AOC Photo Branch

Photo by Luke Waller
26 THOLOS

| VOLUME 21 THOLOS| VOLUME 21 27

THE PATH TO 

BECOMING 

AN ARCHITECT

WRITTEN BY REBECCA CHILLRUD

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KALEENA DWYER

EMPLOYEE HIGHLIGHT Arthur Logan was working as 

an electrician helper in 2005 

when a coworker told him, 

“You’re in the wrong field. You 

need to be an architect.” 

“When I became an electrician helper, I started seeing 

how buildings were actually 

going up. And I was playing 

a part in that,” says Logan. 

He decided architecture was 

something he wanted to 

seriously pursue and made a 

plan to go to school during 

the day and work at night to 

accomplish his goal. 

With that plan in mind, 

Logan started working at 

the Architect of the Capitol 

(AOC) as a night custodian 

in 2010 and began attending 

Howard University to study 

architecture in 2011. “I participated in the student loan 

repayment program that we 

have here at the Architect of 

the Capitol, so that helped 

with my schooling,” he says.

Logan says that his mentors 

at the AOC were always very 

supportive of his career ambitions and his education. When 

he graduated from Howard 

in 2017 with an architectural 

degree, he was able to take 

on a detail position with the 

AOC’s Energy and Design 

Services Division. “The whole 

front office and engineering 

department took me under 

their wing, and each one 

of them gave me different 

nuggets of encouragement and 

knowledge,” says Logan. “They 

helped me proceed to where 

I’m at now.”

During his detail, Logan 

successfully applied for an 

open junior architect position 

in the Senate Office Buildings. 

“When the opportunity came up 

over on the Senate side, I jumped 

on it.” 

Logan’s favorite aspect of his current 

role is preserving history. “Looking at 

it from a historic standpoint — the 

beauty of the buildings we have over 

here at the Senate, and keeping that 

history alive and maintaining it, I 

think that’s one of the most beautiful 

things of my job. And I’m helping to 

solve problems. That’s what makes 

this job so exciting.” 

He also enjoys being able to work 

in a collaborative role where he’s 

always learning. “I’m working with 

every trade in the building, because 

mostly every project needs someone’s hand in it. And luckily, we 

have some of the best men and 

women here to give insight,” says 

Logan. “I’m able to manage that 

project a little better by getting 

their insight from the beginning.” 

Having a strong support system, both 

at work and at home, has been key 

for Logan’s career. “I’ve encountered 

some great individuals all the way 

through my path. I’m a firm believer 

that you constantly learn, you never 

stop learning and you take every bit 

of information that someone 

gives you.”

“Looking at it from a historic standpoint — the beauty of 

the buildings we have over here at the Senate, and keeping that history alive and maintaining it, I think that’s 

one of the most beautiful things of my job. And I’m helping 

to solve problems. That’s what makes this job so exciting.” 

“Toward my last year at Howard, 

I met my now-wife, and she really 

pushed me over the hump.” He also 

values the support of his supervisor, 

Bonnie Holod. “Bonnie pushes me, 

she steers me in the right direction, 

and I can go to her about anything,” 

he says. “She’s definitely helped me 

along this journey, and I have to take 

my hat off to her, because she is the 

reason why I can continue to do 

projects and succeed, because of her 

guidance and mentorship.”

Juggling education and work posed 

a challenge at times, but Logan 

says the end result was worth it. “I 

definitely lost a lot of sleep. On my 

desk at school, I had a note that 

I wrote to myself saying that the 

reward is greater than the struggle. 

So, whenever I felt like I couldn’t 

make it, I would always look back at 

that note,” he says. 

“It was a hard journey, but in life to 

be successful, nothing is easy. And 

you have to walk that tough path to 

get where you want to be. It’s not just 

you, you have to pick up pieces along 

the way from different mentors, 

different people that you encounter, 

to get where you need to be. I think 

that’s one of the reasons why I’m here 

at this point today.”

STUDENT LOAN 

REPAYMENT 

PROGRAM

The AOC is committed to 

developing a well-qualified, 

high-performing workforce by repaying part or 

all of qualifying student 

loan(s). The program can 

assist employees with 

payments on student loan 

debt incurred in support 

of courses of study already 

completed. In exchange for 

a student loan repayment, 

employees will be subject 

to an initial three-year 

service agreement. 

To learn more, contact 

the Human Capital 

Management Division, 

Work/Life Programs at 

202.226.6595.

y
KUDOS 

to YOU

EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION

The Architect of the Capitol recently recognized the 

following employees for their exceptional service. Thank 

you for your commitment to serve, preserve and inspire.

28 THOLOS | VOLUME 21 THOLOS | VOLUME 21 29
Joseph Abriatis

Jeremy Acton

Reggie Anderson

Charles Apple

Teresa Bailey

Sarah Billington

Gregory Cahill

Sarah Call

Matthew Chester

Michelle Chin

Melissa Coby

Edward Condon

Joe Coratola 

Erin Courtney

William Curley 

Robert DiMichele 

Scott Drummond

Jacob Edwards

Derek Falzoi

Donald Fuqua

Marsha Gantt

Morgan Green

Philip Harvey

Harold Honegger

Martin Jimenez 

Brian Kohler

Nicole Kolinski

Dinh Lam

LaVaysha Lewis

Shola Matthews-Aroloye 

Arron Maxwell

Udo Mbuko

Lily Najera

Erin Nelson

Erika Northington

Mary Oehrlein

Kammae Owens

Tony Pfeufer 

Alan Piercy

KUDOS

30 THOLOS | VOLUME 21
31

Clarence Richardson

Ben Riffe

Omar Rivera 

Paul Scheff

Michael Talley

Adrian Toledo

Michael Treppel

Jason Vandervliet

John Ward

Jerrod Whittington

Lori Williams

James Zibragos 

KUDOS

Team Awards

Capitol Grounds and Arboretum

Legislative and Public Affairs

Return to Work Working Group

THOLOS | VOLUME 21
32 THOLOS | VOLUME 21

Legislative and Public Affairs

U.S. Capitol, Room SB-16

Washington, DC 20515

THOLOS VOLUME 21

The Architect of the Capitol strives 

to meet its mission 24 hours a day, 

365 days a year to serve Congress 

and the Supreme Court, preserve

America’s Capitol, and inspire 

memorable experiences for all who 

visit the buildings and grounds.

Tholos is distributed by the Architect 

of the Capitol primarily for AOC 

employees. Questions regarding 

content and publication should be 

directed to AOC Legislative and Public 

Affairs at communications@aoc.gov, 

202.228.1793, or U.S. Capitol, Room 

SB-16, Washington, DC 20515.

JOIN AOC ONLINE:

Twitter.com/uscapitol 

Facebook.com/architectofthecapitol 

Instagram.com/uscapitol 

YouTube.com/uscapitol 

www.aoc.gov

Front & Back Cover Photos By: 

Thomas Hatzenbuhler

Photo:

AOC employees worked hard to clear 

Capitol campus sidewalks and roadways during the recent snowstorm.