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Commission backs revised elevator tower and new lobby at 20 E. Clay St. after contractors hit bedrock
Summary
Lancaster City Historical Commission recommended City Council approve revised plans for a two-story brick-faced elevator tower and new lobby at 20 East Clay Street after excavation hit rock and the elevator location was moved about 18 feet to avoid undermining foundations.
The Lancaster City Historical Commission on Monday recommended that Lancaster City Council approve revised plans to build a two-story brick-faced elevator tower and new lobby entry at 20 East Clay Street after contractors encountered rock during excavation.
Steve, presenting the revised design, told the commission that soil and excavation work uncovered a ledge of rock about where the elevator pit had been planned. The design and construction teams concluded that removing the rock and installing the elevator at the originally proposed location would have destabilized the existing building foundation. As a result, the elevator was moved roughly 18 feet to the south and the entrance reconfigured: a new ramp will lead from the east into a new lobby, with the elevator located to the south of that lobby.
Presenters described the revised enclosure as a brick-faced elevator shaft with anodized aluminum storefront on the first and second floors and an EIFS (exterior insulation and finish system) spandrel panel coordinated to window lines. Gutters and downspouts on the new addition will be clear anodized aluminum rather than the copper used elsewhere on the historic building; the presenter said the change was chosen because the addition is now a more substantial new element and should read as new construction rather than replicate each historic metal detail.
Commissioners asked technical questions about matching gutters and whether rock was the cause of the design change. The presenter said the new lobby is about 14 feet wide and that the elevator pit originally would have been 18 to 20 feet deeper than the basement floor level, which would have required excavation into ledge rock.
A commissioner moved that the commission recommend City Council approve the certificate of appropriateness for the revised construction at 20 East Clay Street, finding it meets the Secretary of the Interior—s Standards (Standard 9). Another member seconded. The commission voted by voice; the chair called for favors and the motion carried.
The commission noted this action is advisory; the recommendation will be forwarded to City Council, which is scheduled to consider it at its Jan. 14 meeting. The presenter provided updated material samples and elevations to the commission during the meeting.
