Part 6: Mobilizing Support
On July 31, 1978, LeMessurier contacted the lawyer of the architectural firm that had retained him as its structural consultant for the Citicorp tower and then the firm's insurance company. As a result, a meeting was arranged the following day with several lawyers for the insurers, to whom LeMessurier related the entire story. The lawyers soon decided to bring in a special consultant -- Les Robertson, a respected structural engineer. Robertson listened to LeMessurier's description of the situation and soon took a more critical view than even LeMessurier himself. Robertson did not believe, for instance, that the tuned mass damper would serve as a safety device despite LeMessurier's assurances that generators could keep the dampers running during an electrical power loss.
Citicorp had to be informed of the danger, so LeMessurier and his partner went about contacting Citicorp's chairman, Walter Wriston. Initially, Wriston was unavailable to them, but LeMessurier's partner was able to arranging a meeting with Citicorp's executive vice president, John Reed, who had engineering experience and played a part in the construction of the tower. LeMessurier detailed the situation once more. When prompted for a cost estimate, LeMessurier guessed that one million dollars would be sufficient. He also explained that the repairs could be done without inconvenience to the tenants by isolating the bolted joints within plywood 'houses' and doing the necessary work at night within those 'houses.'
Reed appreciated the gravity of the situation, and arranged for a meeting with Wriston on August 2, at which point LeMessurier once again told his story. Much to his relief, Wriston recognized the importance of the tower as Citicorp's new corporate emblem, and so readily agreed to the repair proposal. He approved a plan to install emergency generators as a backup power supply for the tuned mass damper, and oversaw much of the relations with the public as well as with the building tenants.
The next day, LeMessurier met with two engineers from the construction company that was to perform the repairs. After examining the joints, these engineers approved LeMessurier's plan to reinforce the bolted joints with welded "Band-Aids."
Before undertaking the repairs, several steps were necessary. LeMessurier contacted the company that had constructed the tuned mass damper to help assure the device's continuous operation. Meteorological experts were retained in order to give advance warning of any storm that could cause the building's destruction. LeMessurier reluctantly agreed with Robertson that, as a further precaution, an emergency evacuation plan for the building and the ten-block-diameter surrounding neighborhood be drafted. In its final form, the plan was to involve up to 2,000 emergency workers provided by the Red Cross.
LeMessurier had to explain the situation to city officials, both to secure their cooperation with the evacuation plan and to comply with the building code. They responded with approval and encouragement, rather than the cynicism that LeMessurier expected. They too recognized both the seriousness of the problem and the immediate need to solve it. Energy was not wasted on rancor or placing blame.
The final task, the one that LeMessurier most dreaded, was informing the press of what was going to be a major undertaking on the brand-new Citicorp tower. An initial press release was issued. It indicated that the building was being refitted in order to withstand slightly higher winds. This was true to some extent, for the meteorological data suggested that the winds for that year were going to be somewhat higher than normal. But the New York Times, for one, was sure to express further interest in what could be a very juicy story. After an initial phone call from a reporter, though, LeMessurier found an unexpected reprieve in a citywide press strike.