Institutional and commercial facilities are not the only elements of communities that require regular inspection and upkeep and too often suffer at the hands of deferred maintenance, as the city of Chicago found out recently.
In 2006, the $4.3 million Vietnam Veterans Memorial that serves as the centerpiece of Chicago's Downtown Riverwalk was plastered with graffiti scribbled in shoe polish. Stone restoration and preservation consultants were called in to remove all traces of the vandalism.
The memorial featuring the engraved names of all 2,936 Illinois soldiers killed in Vietnam now has been restored after noncriminal, less sinister damage. City officials recently announced that the restoration after the work was complete, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Some names and inscriptions on the memorial had faded and become difficult for friends and relatives to read after what the city calls years of deferred maintenance. The repairs were paid for by the city’s department of fleet and facilities management.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
