Tucked against the quarry walls below Fort Hill at Frankfort’s Capital Plaza, the brand- spanking-new Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Office Building stands both as a monument of architectural grandeur and a fomenter of change that is now under way at the Commonwealth’s largest government agency.

The spectacular building – a 446,150-square-foot, six-story behemoth of concrete, steel and glass – was originally envisioned by former Gov. Paul Patton as a culmination of architectural art that would help foster the growth and positive development of the capital city. It also was seen as an opportunity to gather together transportation employees who for years have been scattered all over this part of the Kentucky River valley, creating new efficiencies by having the cabinet’s 1,300 or so Frankfort staffers within a quick walk of each other.

But its size, stretching out so long that it is reminiscent of a land-locked cruise ship, and its cost – $60 million for the office building itself and a project total of $112 million that included attached parking structures, a central utility plant, site improvements, road upgrades and other items – have fueled a frenzy from critics whose tongues have been wagging about the project since its inception in 1999. It even earned its own nickname during the most recent gubernatorial campaign: The Trans Mahal, a back-handed tribute to India’s dazzling Taj Mahal palace.

Any criticism of the project, though, seems to be the last thing on the mind of Kentucky’s new transportation secretary, Maxwell C. Bailey. Clay Bailey is a retired Air Force lieutenant general who hung up his stars in 2002 after a 32-year military career that culminated in helping lead the successful removal of the Taliban from power in Afghanistan.

On the job just a few months, Bailey said he and Deputy Transportation Secretary Dick Murgatroyd are in the midst of putting together a “road map” for the transportation cabinet that likely will result in work force streamlining in certain departments and potential enhancements in others. Meanwhile, the secretary said he appreciates the overall strategy behind the new office building, especially the opportunity to have workers together in a new environment that is bright and airy.

“The idea here is one of ‘open spaces creates open minds.’ Plus, I like the fact that it’s so light here, the exact opposite of our old offices. It’s the difference between night and day.”

The former headquarters for the Transportation Cabinet, the 12-story brown-brick State Office Building located across the street from the new structure, now is completely empty, the last of the transportation folks packing their boxes in February. The old office building now awaits the estimated $46 million, multi-year renovation project that will bring it more up to date.

Bailey said he agrees with the principles in place with the project that were set out in the goals by the former administration. Looking back, however, they seemed very ambitious.

“Our task was to create a facility that consolidates nearly 60 different departments under one roof in an environment that is productive and motivating for employees,” said Richard Polk, Jr., a principal with Lexington-based EOP Architects, the firm that designed the structure. “It had to be inviting and useful for public visitors, and it had to be accommodating of the constant change anticipated in governmental business practices and administrative personnel.”

Polk said the list of objectives zeroed in on using the facility as a means of achieving efficiency and better work flow, and that meant designing a building large enough to consolidate all the capital’s transportation staff. It also meant upgrading working conditions with better lighting and more open spaces and creating a flexible office environment that is pliable enough to adapt to the changes inherent with government business and transitions of administrations.

EOPA also was tasked with creating a facility that would be equipped with state-of-the art technology, such as Internet hookups at each seat of the agency’s 250-seat auditorium, and the mammoth transportation control and dispatch center that uses multiple technologies (Internet, closed-circuit television and land-line communications) to maintain a real-time vigil on how well the Commonwealth is – literally – moving along.

Additionally, the project team was charged with locating the new building along two downtown blocks in an older area of the city, serving as a catalyst for architectural and economic revitalization there.

So, the folks at EOPA rolled up their sleeves to design the largest office facility to be built in the Commonwealth in more than a quarter-century.

The site itself, chosen by former Gov. Patton, faces on three sides onto the urban grid of Frankfort, while the north side of the structure is bounded by a 250-foot-high forested hillside topped by a historic Civil War fort. The historic nature of the site, which had been occupied and built upon for nearly 200 years previous, also posed a potential disaster during the installation of the building’s foundation, when an old cemetery was discovered.

“Our best guess, based on the findings of a forensic pathologist who worked with us, was that the site was used in the very early 1800s as a pauper’s grave during a cholera epidemic that swept the city,” Polk said. Had the bones been the remains of Civil War soldiers or Native Americans, Polk said “the project would have screeched to a halt.” But they were back in business within 21 construction days. Previously built-over during older construction projects at the site, the remains of the 250 cholera victims have been exhumed and will be reburied later.

Meanwhile, construction continued on the project, bringing the latest innovations to bear in a building endeavor that Polk said was extremely challenging because of the multiple demands of the facility.

As one example, the building was designed with the largest and most advanced pressurized plenum under-floor air HVAC system ever installed in Kentucky. The system uses air-distribution floor boxes with motorized dampers that are thermostat-controlled, a new innovation for under-floor air, allowing for “an unprecedented level of individual user control of their workspace environment.” Air distribution floor boxes can be added, deleted or moved as easily as furniture, he said.

Another example was the implementation of the central design theme that created an “internal highway.”

“Unlike most interior circulation corridors, the internal highway is shifted to the building perimete such that it runs adjacent to and looks out through the building’s front façade,” Polk said. “From any point along the internal highway, on any floor, occupants have a commanding view of the historic downtown area, including the state Capitol building.”

Because of its length – 480 feet – one could imagine becoming disoriented walking through one of the internal highways, but the design team solved that problem by ensuring that exterior landmarks are constantly visible. Plus, because people walking along the street can see transportation employees walking along the glass-walled corridors, there’s an instant connection made, Polk said.

And the issues of light – as well as all the views available inside the building – are key features for any visitor. The building’s rear façade, which faces onto the hillside and Fort Hill, is different from the front “because its flowing serpentine shape is a more organic response to the natural environment that it overlooks,” he said. “The glass curtain wall floods the office interiors with desirable northern light and provides building occupants with a spectacular view of the historic natural hillside.”

The design team also tackled the issue of how to make the facility flexible for the changing needs of the department and the state government by making virtually every internal non-load bearing wall moveable.

“In the end, we have a beautiful new building that is going to serve as a unique facility for the people of the state of Kentucky,” Polk said. “We got done on time and under budget. This project has raised the bar within Kentucky as to what should be expected from a government building project.”

Secretary Bailey agreed.

“Here’s the bottom line. This is a facility that is going to get people to talk with each other and foster cooperation. I’m sure this place will support that. Plus, we’ve got the finest conference facility in the state of Kentucky, and I personally think we have the very best transportation operations center in the nation. Safe and reliable transportation is not just about asphalt and concrete, it’s also about intelligent traffic systems management, being able to tackle command and control issues. We can do all that here. It’s a great environment.”

Dennis O'Connor is a staff writer for The Lane Report.
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