U.S. Capitol Clean-up

The events of January 6 left most of the nation at a standstill, but Architect of the Capitol (AOC) employees immediately went to work, restoring the building and grounds to their proper condition so that Congress could safely reconvene and inaugural preparations could get back on track.

Inside the U.S. Capitol

The HVAC Shop took on an unexpected role during the breach, providing access to their eye wash stations to U.S. Capitol Police officers who were affected by pepper spray or tear gas. "In that moment, it was kind of unbelievable what was unfolding. But as it's unfolding, you just want to make sure everybody was okay," said Clinton Johnson. "It felt good to be able to help, but I just wanted to get through it."

As an AOC employee for nearly 15 years, Johnson said it was hard to see the building in that condition. "But I know that the AOC has a great staff and I know that we can restore it back to what it was," he said. "We'll persevere."

Ricardo Mitchell with the AOC's Labor Division was also on-site that day with his team. "We were here that day of the event. We got evacuated out of the building just like everybody else," he said. "Once they got everything under control, we had to come back in the building and clean up the mess, because the Members were going to return to finish voting. We had to go into the chambers and prepare them so they would be able to come back."

"It was a lot of masks and a lot of broken glass, some broken furniture. They had to barricade the doors," he said. There was a lot of heavy lifting to get the House and Senate Chambers back in shape.

Mitchell found it appalling to see the state the U.S. Capitol was in. "We put hard effort in every day to keep this building maintained. It was a lot of debris, you know? And we had a short time to clean it up. But we just got it done. I have a hardworking team," he said.

"I applaud my team for being so dedicated," Mitchell said. "We had to stay here and work extra hours in order to get the job done. We knew how important it was."

Securing the Building

The Carpentry Shop was also involved in the immediate aftermath. "That night, we went around and assessed the broken windows and some of the broken doors, and tried to make sure the building was secure," said Jeff Walters.

Many of the windows that were broken weren't historic, but some of the interior, historic doors were damaged beyond repair.

"A lot of our job comes with unexpected challenges. There's not a whole lot that surprises us anymore, but seeing the overall condition of the building that night, that, I would have to say, was a bit shocking. I've been with the Architect of the Capitol for maybe 22, 23 years. So I've seen a lot of the things that have gone on here, but I've never seen the building in such disarray," said Walters.

Fortunately, Walters said, "I've got a crew that was with me that worked tirelessly to go out and get the things done that we knew had to be done. When we go around and look at something that needs to be repaired, we're always looking at the solution part of it and not really standing back saying 'Wow, I never thought that would happen.' We just look at it as something that needs to be done."

The U.S. Capitol Grounds

The grounds around the U.S. Capitol were also in need of serious clean-up by the Capitol Grounds and Arboretum team. "We understand that the landscape is the first thing that everybody sees when they come to Capitol Hill," said Jim Kaufmann. "Regardless of where they're going, what building they're going to, they're coming on to the landscape first, and that's their first impression of Capitol Hill."

On Thursday morning, the assessment of the grounds began. "Our team of arborists, masons, gardeners, laborers, mechanics, they were all involved in the clean-up effort, to try to clean as fast as possible," said Katie Serock. 

"It was tough for the crew, because these are the areas, our grounds, that we preserve. That's why we're here,” said Kaufmann.

Serock agreed: "It's definitely disheartening to witness that," she said. "It's something that we care so much about. We are creating this vision for the entire country of having this pristine and organized U.S. Capitol. And when you see it go into disarray, it kind of sinks your heart a bit."

"We have great employees that step up to the plate and get the work done," said Serock. "That's our job and we want it to be as beautiful as possible."

Preparing for the Inauguration

With the inauguration on January 20, the AOC's preparations were already well underway. This includes the inaugural platform on the West Front, which the AOC builds from scratch for each inauguration.

"When I left there Wednesday, I was real happy and proud of our team," said Kevin Grooms, who works in the Paint Shop. The white paint on the inaugural stands was completely finished, and they had made it through nearly three-quarters of the blue detail work. "We worked until probably twelve o'clock Wednesday. And the blue paint that was on the deck was actually still wet."

"We came back on Thursday morning, and I mean, it was completely destroyed," he said. "It was just totally demolished. The blue wet paint, they tracked it all over."

There was also trash and debris covering the stands. "Besides the stands having a lot of debris on them, there was a lot of broken glass. And there was a significant amount of residue from the tear gas. It was very difficult cleaning up that area," said Serock, who noted that the U.S. Capitol Police provided important guidance on how to safely handle these items.

"It was a real mess, it was unbelievable. You just can't imagine," said Grooms. "We're still in shock over it." But his team worked through the weekend, "When I left there Sunday afternoon, that deck looked like it did Wednesday. Now, it's pretty much down to touch-ups."

This was a tremendous amount of work in a short amount of time for the team, but "that's just a small part," said Grooms, who pointed out that these efforts are going on across the AOC. "Everyone's doing the same type of thing, you know, everybody just wants to get everything done. We didn't want this to affect us."

Grooms also expressed thanks to the U.S. Capitol Police officers who told his team to evacuate the stands, where they had planned to work until dark that evening. "We would've been right in that mess if we wouldn't have pulled out when we did," he said. "I thanked the officers many times for that, for getting us out of there and out of harm's way."

Expressing Gratitude

The incredible efforts of employees across the AOC have not gone unnoticed. People all across America were able to take solace in seeing order restored to the U.S. Capitol by our hardworking employees.

Morgan Green helps monitor the AOC's web feedback inbox. Typically, she gets a slow trickle of logistical emails throughout the day, but in the past week, the inbox has been flooded with hundreds of messages of appreciation and offers of support.

"We've been sharing many of the messages with employees, and it has really helped raise the spirits of our staff to know that their work is appreciated," Green said.  

One email resonated with our team, "I don't believe you hear it often enough, but what you do matters. It's not just what you were tasked with last week, but also what you do every day. It is more appreciated than you realize."

Thank you to all who have reached out to offer your encouragement. We humbly appreciate your support.