9/07/2001
A maintenance project to re-caulk all of the windows of the Daley Center is scheduled to begin Monday, the Public Building Commission announced.
The project is designed as preventive maintenance to forestall excessive corrosion from rainwater seeping in where the existing caulk has worn away around the window frames, according to PBC executive director Eileen Carey.
The exterior of the building has not been freshly caulked since the mid-1980s. The 31-floor Daley Center has 2,352 windows, all of which will be re-caulked at a cost of $273,000, Carey said.
The eight-month project will be suspended during the winter. Temporary scaffolding will be erected at ground level below the workers as a safety precaution, moving under the caulkers as they make their way around the building.
In addition, the work will be scheduled so the scaffolding is not in the plaza itself during the holiday decorations period.
This week, related work began on re-caulking the plaza, also for preventive maintenance. This project, expected to take about 40 working days and costing $148,000, involves removing and replacing the caulk between tiles on the plaza.
Small sections are being roped off each day Tuesdays through Saturdays for this work, which will be scheduled so none of the building’s entrances are blocked on weekdays, Carey explained.