I was called to look at the cupola on
the Memorial Building in Stowe, Vt.
It is a finely detailed Colonial Revival
building put up around 1900. Local
officials have realized the importance
and special character of the building,
and restoration of the cupola is part of
a general effort to save its distinctive
details.
When I inspected the building, I
used a ladder and safety harness to get
up to and around the structure. Hiring
a crane or setting up scaffolding would
have been too costly. After the
inspection, I wrote a "scope
document," which describes both the
condition of the cupola and the
extent of the work to be done. The
architect uses this document when