When we did the Orpheum restoration in Memphis, we were faced with a
project that was being bid in multiple primes.  One of our biggest concerns
was getting someone qualified to undertake the interior finishes
restoration: studio work of the highest order, with plaster restoration,
lots of gold leaf, color analysis and restoration, wall fabrics, etc.
Rather than pre-qualification, our approach was to write a very strict
specification upon which they were bidding that established the levels of
experience of the bidder.  As part of the bid, they had to demonstrate that
they met criteria such as jobs of a similar type and scale, years
experience, vita's of qualified craftsmen, and so on ad infinitum.  Thus we
were able to reject bids of persons that clearly did not have the resources
or abilities to undertake the project.

We also set it up so that it would be a true collaborative process wherein
we as architects were not promulgating precisely what the final product
would be down to the last jot, but that we would be working together to
take advantage of the contractors' expertise.  Our spec established their
expertise and ability to work collaboratively; the rest is history, so to
speak.  The winning bid was Conrad Schmitt Studios, the relationship was
extraordinary, and the result breathtaking.  The reopening film was "The
Wizard of Oz."  If you have not ever seen that film on the big screen, on a
screen the proper shape for the original print, in a movie palace setting,
well, your life is simply incomplete.

______________________________________________
Dan Becker,  Executive Director            "What's this? Fan mail
Raleigh Historic                                     from some flounder?"
Districts Commission                             - Bullwinkle J. Moose

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