The $100,000 renovation of warn, stained and damaged components of ROA’s Capitol Hill headquarters building, dedicated on Washington’s birthday 1968, is halfway done.

In this before-and-after photo set, stains in the “before” (left) are disappearing in the “after.” The cleansing involves a citric acid solution that reaches into the limestone, “flushes” contaminants to the surface, and is then washed away by rain, yielding results over time (you can see how it has already started). By ROA’s October 2022 centennial convention, the decades of grime will be erased.

In the photo to the left, CSCI general manager, Jim Donaghy does handwork on masonry repairs – that’s right, ROA’s work is being done by the renovation company manager and its president, Tim McLaughlin! CSCI is the Architect of the Capitol’s official contractor for renovation work on congressional buildings. Work has also cleaned all windows; removed rust from handrails, with them painted to look new; repaired portico ceiling cracks with the ceiling repainted, repaired and cleaned exterior “Art Deco” light fixtures (see photo), and cleaned and repaired all exterior “bluestone” surfaces where needed.

During CSCI’s initial assessment of the work, ROA learned, to no surprise, that our building is made to standards and with materials essentially no longer seen. And it will bear gleaming testimony to ROA’s enduring value to America for many decades to come!