2.3 Exhibit Hall Ceiling Description

The Exhibit Hall is the largest room in the building, spanning about 60 feet wide and 150 feet long, and rising two stories to the roof. The plaster ceiling is part of the larger system of the Wagner’s roof. The barrel vault ceiling is divided into nine bays by eight arched trusses (Figure 4). The trusses are constructed of two wood chords connected by steel ties and wood cross-bracing. Steel tie rods at the bottom of each truss provide reinforcement. The plaster spans the distance between the trusses and is not continuous through the whole length of the ceiling, resulting in nine separate bays of plaster, each approximately 60 feet wide by 16 feet long. Bays have been numbered for reference, with Bay 1 at the north end, and Bay 9 at the south end of the ceiling. The plaster continues from the ceiling onto to the walls which are similarly plastered. Thus, there is a continuous connection between the plaster ceiling and the north and south walls, and the east and west walls between the trusses. Located within each of the even numbered bays is a skylight that spans the entire length of the bay, connecting to the trusses on either end, dividing the plaster into two separate fields on either side of the skylight. Along the length of the skylight, casement molding covers the edge of the skylight frame. This molding also appears to covers the edge of the plaster. Each skylight is approximately 100 sq. ft. in size and made of two wood sash divided into 32 panes. Placed in every other bay, the skylights once provided the exhibit hall most of its daytime light, but have since been covered over from above with plywood. Two hatches penetrate the ceilings in the north and south-most bays allow access to the roof.

3.1 What is gis?

A geographic information system, or GIS, is a system capable of integrating, storing, editing, analyzing sharing and displaying spatially referenced data. It is commonly used to understand geographical features and patterns to derive sensible spatial decisions. It is broadly used in many areas including Urban Planning, cartography, logistics, etc. ESRI’s software known as ArcGIS incorporates the methodology of a GIS into a computer-based software. ArcGIS requires a computer, reliable spatial data, and an informed operator who applies the capabilities of the software by posing interactive queries to thoroughly analyze all aspects of the problem to achieve an informed decision. The power of ArcGIS lies in its ability to process multiple and varying sets of data as well as store and display the information visually as a comprehensible and easily understood representation of data.