Home > Articles By Issue > Showcase > April 2005

Underneath It All

With 23 million+ specimens, the Chicago Field Museum had to dig deep to make space for its mushrooming research collection.

By Heidi Schwartz

In addition to hosting The TFM Show® each year, Chicago is the site of many important American architectural landmarks, entertainment venues, and cultural centers. One of the city's most popular tourist spots is the famed Field Museum, where Sue, the world's largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex, is a major attraction.

But the museum is much more than just a showcase for priceless treasures. In addition to the public exhibits and educational programs, the museum has become a major research institution with a focus on biological sciences and anthropology. Over time, it has become the third largest research museum in the country.

A Mammoth Collection

Built on a display initially unveiled during the World's Fair of 1893, the Field Museum's research collection currently consists of approximately 23 million specimens. With this kind of scope, the collection has attracted scientists from around the world. And as each curator joins the museum, the collection grows.

Jim Croft, vice president for finance and administration with the Field Museum says, "The specimens come in, but nothing goes out. As it was growing, we found we were running out of space in the building. We took exhibit halls out of service and made them storage areas. We took light wells and converted them into storage space. It still was not enough."

A strategic plan for the museum was created in 1999, and one of the objectives was to find an appropriate storage solution for the collection. Several options were considered, but in the end, an expansion of the existing facility made the most sense.

"Ordinances and preservation issues prevented us from building above ground; going underground was our only choice. We decided on an 'L' shaped configuration under the southeast terrace that would wrap around to the east side of the building. If we went down two levels, we could get about 180,000 square feet of additional space; by going a little further, we created about 200,000 square feet. The bottom of the facility is about 4' above lake level," Croft explains.

Move Over, Bears

As plans for the new, underground Collections Resource Center (CRC) went through revisions, the decision was made to renovate the east entrance as well, which would be built on the CRC foundation. The need for the new entrance was caused by the renovation of another Chicago landmark, Soldier Field.

"The Chicago Bears essentially created our new entrance," Croft explains. "The renovation of Soldier Field changed some of the traffic patterns on the museum campus, and our new parking facility would be very inconvenient for disabled visitors or school bus drop offs. It only made sense to build an entrance that would be available for disabled visitors and schoolchildren. If it weren't for the creation of the CRC, the construction of the east entrance would have been more complex."

While planning began in the late 1990s, construction didn't actually take place until September 2001. At that point, crews began to remove the old terrace and the old marble for salvage purposes.

"Obviously, when you're dealing with marble, you're talking about a great deal of money," says Project Executive Tom Chlipala of CATH Associates, Inc. "This was marble from the original construction, and since the building is a landmark, we wanted to maintain as much of that as possible."

A Battle Between Science And Nature

While preserving precious pieces of marble from the original facade was one of the challenges faced by the team, taming another natural resource was an even tougher assignment. "We went 70' down to the hardpan of the lake, so naturally we were concerned about water--the element that's probably more damaging than any other to collections. It was necessary to create a slurry wall to try to keep the water out," explains Croft.

The slurry wall for the CRC is a 2' thick, 65' to 85' deep structure that surrounds the perimeter of the entire project. The space is held open with slurry, a thick water and clay mixture. Next, a pre-built reinforcement cage is placed in the slurry filled hole, where concrete is then piped in through a tube at the bottom. "As the concrete comes in at the bottom, it starts displacing the slurry liquid out," Chlipala says.

Eventually, a wall of concrete was created in sections--96 in all--around the perimeter. The panels are fashioned with a tongue and groove kind of construction, where one panel ties into the next to act as a water cutoff.

An Archaeological Exercise

The next phase of the project was the excavation. Built on a landfill in 1921, the Field Museum rests on ground that didn't even exist prior to 1915. After the famous Chicago fire, city officials decided to push the debris out into the lake and "just continued with lake fill," Croft adds.

During the excavation, Chlipala recalls, "members of the museum's large archaeology staff came out every day and walked the site as we were digging. They constantly found things down there--bottles, jugs, buttons, shoes, pins, rings, dinnerware, and bits of china."

Croft says, "One of the archaeologists created an exhibit in the museum to feature items found during the renovation. Museum scientists never throw anything away once they get their hands on it."

Naturally, this caused concern among those involved with the construction. "What would we do if they found something so interesting that they'd stop us? There could have been an old dock in that area or an old shipwreck. Fortunately, we just ran into what we'd consider regular garbage," Chlipala says.

Even with the slurry wall in place (completed in July 2002), the construction team battled against the forces of nature. "When you dig a hole like this, the sides keep collapsing in," Chlipala explains. "As we dug down, we had to put cross lock bracing in the hole. The museum itself is built on piles, so we had to avoid disturbing the foundation of the museum itself to make sure the building wasn't moving around."

Concrete for the foundation was poured in May 2003, and the basic structure was worked on until July 2004. The entrance was also completed around the same time frame. At this point, the remaining elements are in their final stages.

A Full Time Facility

While the forces of nature certainly escalated the complexities of this project, practical demands were an additional concern. The museum had to remain open to visitors and researchers throughout the lengthy construction period.

"You have a museum that's open all but one day a year to the public," Croft says, "and the research facility is open every day for the researchers. We couldn't afford to close the museum, nor would we want to because of our responsibility to the public. We literally had to build this structure underground--in conjunction with the nearby renovations at Soldier Field--without inconveniencing anyone.

"The museum hosts about 1.5 million visitors a year, and on top of that, we have black tie, gala type events almost every evening. Sponsors of those events didn't want their guests looking at ugly construction equipment. We had to figure out how to hide our work sites; temporary canopies came in handy," he says.

"Museum staff was great in working with us to get everything done. It wasn't easy on them either," Chlipala recalls.

Collective Decisions

Staff members were involved in the project throughout. As an academic institution, the museum makes all decisions by committee.

"Day one, we started with various committees from everywhere in the institution. As a matter of fact, I took trustees, curators, program people, and administrators to different facilities so we'd have an idea of what we wanted to do. I think we looked at every facility that might be a model. There was a great deal of involvement," says Croft.

Because of the nature of the facility, this involvement was more than just a courtesy, it was a necessity.

"These collections belong to the researchers," Chlipala explains. "They're very particular about how the items will be maintained, how they'll be moved, and where they'll be put. The committees specified rules and regulations about what they wanted and how much space they needed. Humidity and temperature controls, what kind of cabinets were needed, this was all part of the planning by the committee."

The Nature Of The Beast

Despite the constraints of the facility, Croft has still been trying to incorporate as much innovative technology as possible in order to make the museum more efficient and up to date. "This is a 1921 building with very high tech demands. We had to bring our infrastructure up to a point where we could use the latest ultra modern research equipment. We have an isotopic mass spectrometer to analyze Mars rocks and archaeological specimens. We perform DNA sequencing, and from time to time, we even work with law enforcement to handle DNA testing. It has been a challenge to modernize this building, but then we're also trying to be as green as we possibly can."

Just as the project put in for its building permits, the new Chicago energy code came into effect. The museum was partially grandfathered, "but we still try to hold ourselves to the new code in a lot of ways," Chlipala concedes. "We are putting in all the updated and most modern equipment we can for these things that control air and temperature. But there's not much we can do when you have such strict controls. It's not like an office where you can turn down the HVAC at night.

Photo: Scott Demel, PH.D., Collection Project Coordinator, The Field Museum

"Daylighting isn't even an option for us," he continues, "because any kind of light damages objects over a period of time. Once the items are in these storage areas, every possible bit of light is shut off. The researchers don't even like the fact we have enough light to satisfy safety concerns. (It's not pitch black in there, although they'd prefer it that way). This is a fire code requirement; we can't get around it. Recently, the museum did expand and renovate its central boiler and cooling plant."

Croft explains, "We changed the central plant to more efficient boilers, so now we can use thermal energy. We also have a 100 kw of solar power on the roof of the museum that's integrated into our electrical system."

Conservation is inherent at the museum, which is preservation minded by nature. "It would be somewhat hypocritical if we go to other parts of the world to talk about conservation and we're not doing it on our own doorstep," Croft says. "At this point, we're not ready to pursue any sort of certification, because we're more concerned with doing what we can to make the building greater."

A Delicate Matter

In the upcoming weeks, Croft and Chlipala will be preparing to move the items from their existing locations into the new CRC. However, the environmental levels will be tested for a full month before anything is relocated.

"Once we get all the mechanical units and the HVAC going, we'll gather one month of readings to confirm that the environment will be controlled to the extent they need," Chlipala says.

As for relocating the collection, the museum has hired a specialist named Scott Demel to coordinate the moves. Demel will look at details like the type of pneumatic wheels required in order to reduce the amount of vibration.

"Take the alcohol collection as an example," Chlipala explains. "We're talking about fish in jars of alcohol. When you start moving a cart around on a rough surface, those jars will start shaking. Even a slight oscillation might cause some scales to fall off of the specimen. These objects have been carefully preserved and studied for many years; any movement could destroy them. Naturally, there's concern about what will happen if jars break."

Every possibility has been explored. "I was relieved when I found out someone else would handle that," says Chlipala. "I'll do whatever is necessary to get the job done, as long as I don't have to deal with moving ancient vases and delicate insects from the Amazon."

Several large objects--vases, pagodas, and sarcophagi lids and boxes--present another unusual challenge. "For instance, there is a 20' war canoe that will have to be moved. In the past, they've actually had to take out windows, get guys to walk it around the museum perimeter, and maneuver it to its current storage location by way of the loading dock. Arguably, the easiest thing would be to drop it in the hole and just hope no one uses it as a coffee table down there," Chlipala jokes.

It's Not What You See, It's What You Don't See

The irony of this project is it's not going to be the kind of showpiece the museum is. Everything about the CRC will be removed from the public side of the museum. Storage space will be reconverted back to exhibit space, and light wells will return to their original function. "When we finish restoring the terrace, no one will ever know what happened--except those who are very astute at looking at before and after pictures," observes Croft. "We're going to put the terrace together in a way that will look like nothing was ever touched," he adds.

Chlipala agrees that the terrace will "look great when it's done," and concedes, "the east entrance will make a lot of people happy because it will be easier to get in and out of the museum. I'll be able to point to that and say, 'look at this great space.'"

But what Croft appreciates most is his contribution to the state-of-the-art research and collection facility. "It will be among the best in the country, if not the world," he says with pride.

When reflecting on the project, Chlipala refers to the museum as an iceberg, with most seeing just the tip. "The people come in, see all the exhibits, and visit Sue the dinosaur, but that's not all the museum does."

Through his work on the CRC, Chlipala has gained a greater appreciation of what goes on behind the scenes. "I've gotten to know many of the researchers and collections people, and they're the ones who contribute every day to the advancement of knowledge in certain areas of research. Beneath it all, this is a huge facility that's still working every day to advance our knowledge of the world and our past."

This article was based on interviews with Chlipala (tchlipala@cathinc.com) and Croft (jcroft@fieldmuseum.org).

To share your renovation story, send an e-mail to schwartz@groupc.com.