Fall 2011

Cover Story

Naval Academy Job with Parisian Influence

In its first major job for the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Wagner Roofing is restoring the 1907 roof on Mahan Hall, which contains the distinctive clock tower and houses a stage for theatrical productions and presentations to medium-sized audiences. The second floor is home to the Hart Room, which was the old library and is the closest thing the Naval Academy has to a Student Union. The building is named for Alfred Thayer Mahan, a Navy flag officer whose concept of “sea power” became a critical nation-building strategy in the 19th century.

It was designed by Ernest Flagg, who also designed the Naval Academy’s Bancroft Hall, the Naval Academy Chapel, Maury Hall, Sampson Hall and the superintendent’s residence. His career was largely influenced by his studies at École de Beaux-Arts in Paris, under the patronage of his cousin Cornelius Vanderbilt II. In The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, David McCullough portrays Flagg as one of the group of American architects who spent time in Paris and returned home with French ideas of architectural design, such as structural rationalism.

West mansard elevation with clock tower. United States Naval Academy, Mahan Hall Location: 106 Maryland Ave., Annapolis, MD Roofing: Slate and membrane roofs, built-in gutter, clean historic skylights, restore copper dormers. General Contractor: Allen and Shariff Naval Architect: Randy Gertler

At the Naval Academy, Wagner’s job includes replacing the slate, membrane roofs and built-in gutter with copper. Historic skylights are being cleaned, and ornamental copper dormers are being restored. It is anticipated that the work will be complete just before Christmas.

Randy Herald and Jose Santos installing 6-by-8-foot dormer after restoration.

Some of the job’s challenges include intricate detail—such as fourteen 6-by-8-foot copper dormers, copper bells and cheneaux—all of which were replicated in Wagner’s sheet metal shop. Wagner project manager Kevin Morgan said some of the dormer repair work was so tricky it reminded him of auto body work. “We had to repair the dents from the inside out,” he says. “These things are eight feet high and six feet wide. We’re replacing the flashing around the window leaving the pantineaed copper. The repairs to the dormers were necessary due to ice and snow damage.”

Not only did all Wagner’s engineered drawings have to be submitted and approved by the Naval Academy, but all the fabricated metal has to match existing conditions exactly and has to be approved by Maryland’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).

Shop-fabricated copper replica of a “bell” from Mahan Hall is on the left.

“The Navy and SHPO want it to look like it’s never been touched,” Morgan says. “Our job is to duplicate the metal pieces exactly how they were made more than 100 years ago.”

But one of the biggest challenges is working around the regular activities at the Academy (such as events like graduation and days when new plebes arrive) and having major construction underway while making it look as much as possible like nothing’s going on. “It’s probably the most challenging job I’ve worked on in my 44 years of roofing,” Chuck Wagner says.

But Morgan and metal workers Randy Herald, Manny Cerrito and Jose Santos agree that it’s also an honor to be working on the grounds of one of the most revered institutions in the nation. These metal men have worked a total of 2,280 hours to date in the shop and field, and we are halfway finished.