It was a bit of a relief to be in DC last Wednesday as my world came apart at the seams. I tend to eat, drink, and sleep architecture, and whatever position I am in, so it has really been devastating. I made the comment to my staff nearly a year ago, that my main goal was to not be the last state architect. And yet here it is happening before my eyes.
On April 25, 2012, the Ohio House passed House Bill 487, the Governor's Mid-Biennium Budget Review Bill. On May 16, it was approved by the Senate. The House moved it to a Conference Committee on May 17, 2012. House Bill 487 will merge the State Architect's Office with the Ohio School Facilities Commission to form the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. Ninety-one days after the Governor's signature, the State Architect's Office will no longer exist.
I'd like to think that somebody cares about this issue as much as I do. I ran into my mentor at the Fellowship Investiture, and she said that it was a disgrace. Having served in the position before me. I know she cares too. Her words, though not meant for me personally, were difficult to swallow. AIA fought long and hard to keep the Architect of the Capitol an architect. Seems obvious, but not to those outside the profession.
I also know that I am (we are) not alone. It is a very difficult position to fill. The architects with sufficient experience in management and administration are practicing and keeping their firms alive in a dreaful economy. I came up from inside the organization, having written our contracts and conditions for the last six years. It was truly a joy to be able to execute the provisions I helped craft and implement.
We also just implemented new project delivery methods that had never been available to us. Ohio had been a multiple-prime state for 134 years. With Design-Build and CM at Risk projects on the horizon, the future was looking very bright indeed. However, the funding for the state agencies we serve is insufficient to be sustainable. Thus we will join our school building program to create the critical mass necessary to perform the enterprise-wide functions mandated in law.
I am really working hard to find the bright side of this issue. I probably would have lost my job when a new administration came in anyway. But the office and position would continue. I worry that no one will remember what the role of our office was for the ninety-one years of our history. I guess I should take comfort in the knowledge that I played a significant part of that history for the last seven years.
What is difficult to reconcile are the words I expressed when my predecessor was dismissed. I told him that he left the office better than he found it.