albrook air force station, habs no. cz-10-b company

ALBROOK AIR FORCE STATION, COMPANY OFFICER'S QUARTERS (Albrook Air Force Station, Building 29) East Side of Canfield A venue Balboa Vicinity Former Panama Canal Zone Republic of Panama

PHOTOGRAPHS

HABS No. CZ-10-B

WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA

HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY Rocky Mountain Regional Office

National Park Service Department of the Interior

12795 W. Alameda Parkway Denver, Colorado 80225

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HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY ' B - :I

ALBROOK AIR FORCE STATION, COMP ANY OFFICER'S QUARTERS (Albrook Air Force Station, Building 29) HABS No. CZ-10-B

For information about other structures at the Albrook Air Force Station site, see:

HABS No. CZ-10, Albrook Air Force Station HABS No. CZ-10-A, Albrook Air Force Station, Field Officer's Quarters HABS No. CZ-10-C, Albrook Air Force Station, Non-Commissioned Officers' Duplex HABS No. CZ-10-D, Albrook Air Force Station, Parachute & Armament Building HABS No. CZ-10-E, Albrook Air Force Station, Dispensary

Location:

Present Owner:

Original Use:

Present Use:

Significance:

East side of Canfield Boulevard, between Buildings 27 and 31, Albrook Air Force Station, East Bank of Pacific entrance to Panama Canal, Balboa Vicinity, former Panama Canal Zone, Republic of Panama, Central America

United States Department of Defense

Company Officer's Quarters

Family Housing (vacated for transfer to Republic of Panama)

Building 29 is representative of 32 identical housing units found at Albrook Air Force Station. It is a fine example of a Company Officer's Quarters executed in the Mission style. The front symmetry, red tile roof forms, deep open eaves, stucco surfaces, and casements combine to produce a unique Mediterranean effect. Scrolled forms at the top of the square porch piers are the most obvious Mission motifs. The building was constructed as officer's housing for Albrook Field. It continued to serve its housing function until it was vacated for transfer to the Republic of Panama.

A. General Statement:

ALBROOK AIR FORCE STATION, COMPANY OFFICER'S QUARTERS

(Albrook Air Force Station, Building 29) HABS No. CZ-10-B

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1. History: Funds for the construction of Albrook Building 29 came from a FY29 appropriation. The building was completed on 7 May 1932 at a cost of $12,477.85 (Figure 1). The design follows War Department Quartermaster Corps Construction Service drawing series No. 3215. The U.S. Department of Defense has been the sole owner of the building. Occupancy logs for Albrook housing units have been lost and the current system is not accurate. Building 29 is currently vacant in preparation for the transfer of Albrook Air Force Station to the Republic of Panama.1

2. Architectural Character: Building 29 is built of poured-in-place concrete and hollow tile, finished with textured stucco. This construction is typical of early permanent housing completed by the U.S. in Panama. In its original state, the first-floor living porch was open air. Major spaces are contained within the first floor and hover over the servant and storage understory. The gable-on-hip roofis covered in clay tile, rather than the corrugated metal specified in the drawings for the housing type. Latin influences include deep open eaves, casements, and decorative scrollwork at the upper comers of the structural bays. In sum, Building 29 represents a modest yet dignified Mission-style officer's quarters.

Through time, all sides of the building's exterior have undergone modification. The character of the first-floor porch changed significantly when its openings were substantially altered. Originally the living porch was open-air, contained only by insect screens. Now concrete block, stucco, and plaster construction seals small replacement jalousies into the large original openings. Wooden screened transoms, although blocked at the interior, remain intact at the exterior. The rest of the original first-floor wooden casement windows were replaced with aluminum jalousie windows like those added to the living porch. Regarding exterior doors, the original double screen doors at the front and single louvered doors at the kitchen have been replaced. Those on the ground-floor rooms are the original solid wood 6-panel doors. The upper four panels of these doors are louvered, but the louvers are now covered with plywood.

The interior of the building has undergone little remodeling. Window replacements and the sealing off of the living porch and transoms mark the most significant changes to the

1 "Property records for Building 29, War Department Q.M.C. Form 117," Howard Real Estate Office; Record drawing for Company Officer's Quarters, Engineering Flight-Drafting Section, Howard Air Force Base, Republic of Panama.

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Figure 1. Southwest and southeast sides of Albrook Building 29 following construction completion. (Source: Property records for Building 29, War Department Q.M.C. Form 117, Real Estate Office, Howard Air Force Base, Republic of Panama)



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interior. These modifications were likely associated with the installation of air conditioning. The date of installation is unknown, but records show that the system was updated in 1974 and 1986.2 The kitchen renovation is the only other substantial remodeling project. Here dark wood cabinets were added, topped by laminate countertops. Dark wood overhead cabinets match the lower replacement cabinets. Dissimilar wall-mounted shelves appear to be later additions. The original first-floor tile flooring was replaced with asbestos tiles. Original doors are found throughout the interior, and original ceilings remain intact.

The building retains its essential original exterior appearance and building footprint since its completion in 1932. The most notable modification to the exterior is the replacement of the original wood-framed porch screens with jalousie windows over plastered concrete block half-walls. Modifications to openings in the living porch have also substantially altered the original appearance of these interior spaces. The ground-floor spaces and first-floor closets retain many of their original features. They, above any other spaces in the building, depict the 1932 interior character of the building. The building is in very good condition due to regular occupancy and maintenance, and its historic character has been preserved. (See photographic documentation HABS No. CZ-10-B-l through CZ-10-B-19).

B. Description of the Exterior:

1. Overall Dimensions: Building 29 is 44' by 52'9". The building contains 2,776 square feet of floor space on two levels. The finished ground-floor to finished first-floor height is 9'. The finished first-floor to first-floor ceiling joist height is 10'3".

2. Foundations: The building rests on a spread foundation constructed of poured-in-place reinforced concrete walls and footings.

3. Walls: Exterior walls are poured-in-place concrete and hollow tile. Wall thickness is consistent on both levels at 8". All exterior wall surfaces are covered in a textured stucco.

4. Structural System: The structural system is a poured-in-place two-way reinforced concrete system.

2 U.S. Air Force Real Property Inventory Detail List, 10 February 1995, Real Property Office, Howard Air Force Base, Republic of Panama; U.S. Air Force Real Property Inventory Detail List, 18 December 1995, Real Property Office, Howard Air Force Base, Republic of Panama.

ALBROOK AIR FORCE STATION, COMP ANY OFFICER'S QUARTERS


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5. Porches. Exterior Stairs: Originally, recessed open-air porches ran the length of the front and around the south comer at both levels. The ground-floor porch remains, but the firstfloor living porch is enclosed with concrete block and glazing as part of the living/dining space. In its original state, the living porch was protected by wood-framed insect screens with detachable panels that fit inside the porch openings. Porch bays at both levels are decorated with Mission-style scrollwork. Outdoor shelter is also provided by the recessed carport and adjacents areas at the back of the building. Ceilings and floors of all the porches are concrete.

From the south front comer, concrete stairs rise to a centered landing on the first floor. From the center of the back side of the unit, concrete stairs rise to a southern landing at the first-floor kitchen. The front stairs were originally contained by an iron rail with vertical balusters. The back stairs were contained by a simple steel pipe rail. Now both are edged with stuccoed concrete half walls with painted coping. A wood handrail is attached to the half wall at the rear stairs. Both first-floor entries are sheltered by the cantilevered clay tile roof eaves.

6. Chimneys: None.

7. Openings:

a. Doors: The formal front entry to Building 29 is on the southwest side of the building. Here double solid wood I-light I-panel doors are centered in the middle bay on the first floor. They replace the original double screened doors. A single solid wood 8-panel door replaces the original louvered door at the east kitchen entry. Access to the ground-floor spaces is provided through the open garage area. Here original solid wood 6-panel doors remain with their upper four louvered panels covered with plywood.

b. Windows: Original solid wood 3-light casement windows remain at the ground-floor level. Identical windows and a 4-light variation originally filled the openings on the first floor, but have since been replaced with aluminum jalousie windows. The jalousies are found in one-, two-, three-, four-, and five-bay arrangements, and some have missing louvers. The original first-floor screened transoms remain intact at the exterior, but their vertical bar barriers are sealed at the interior. Windows are located 4'0-11/16" above the finished floor at the front ground floor and 2'5-15/16" above the finished floor at the first floor. Each one extends 3'5-13/16" high at the ground floor and 6'2-1/16" high, including the transom, at the first floor. Smooth-finished concrete sills are located under all the original window openings. Decorative wooden sills projecting from the concrete half



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walls at the first-floor porch are all that remain of the original screened bays. Original screens line the inside of the remaining casements. Ground-floor windows at the servant's quarters are protected by decorative iron security grilles.

8. Roof:

a. Shape: Red roofing tile covers the wood-framed gable-on-hip roof forms. Rafters are likely 2x8s spaced 18" on center and pitched to a moderate slope. The gable portion of the roof appears as triangular louvered vents backed with insect screens. The eaves are rich with detail, having exposed wood decking on exposed wood rafters. Rafter ends are left exposed as well. The eaves have an overlook projection of 5' from the outside walls.

b. Skylights, Vents: As mentioned above, the gable ends of Building 29 contain wooden louvered vents that help exhaust heat from the attic space. In addition to the gable vents, thin rectangular eave vents appear between every other rafter along the building's perimeter. The kitchen and pantry are vented through small square exhaust fans installed in the transom area above their windows.

C. Description of the Interior:

1. Floor Plans: Building 29 is essentially a two-story rectangular building. Its front entrance is on the southwest side, up one flight of exterior stairs, and through the center structural bay of the unit. Double doors at the top of the front stairs open to the former full-width living porch. This space is now enclosed and is contiguous with the living and dining rooms. Together they double as circulation space, as there are no halls or stairs that provide interior access between rooms and levels. A secondary entrance through the kitchen is located at the east comer of the building. The bedrooms open off the living and dining areas. The two southwestemmost bedrooms also open to the living porch. The pantry links the kitchen to the dining area. Bathrooms are centrally located to the bedrooms. Servant and storage spaces are located on the ground floor. This arrangement is typical of military housing in Panama (Figures 2 through 4).

2. Stairways: None on interior.

3. Flooring: The original honeycomb ceramic tile with 2" by 2" square tile border remains in the first-floor bathrooms. With the exception of the bathrooms, the entire first floor has had its original floor tiles replaced with green asbestos tiles. The original exposed



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Figure 2. Original plan of Albrook Building 29 following construction completion. (Source: Property records for Building 29, War Department Q.M.C. Form 117, Real Estate Office, Howard Air Force Base, Republic of Panama)



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Figure 3. Original standard plans for Company Officer's Quarters at Albrook Field. (Source: Engineering Flight-Drafting Section, Howard Air Force Base, Republic of Panama)

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Figure 4. Original standard elevations for Company Officer's Quarters at Albrook Field. (Source: Engineering Flight-Drafting Section, Howard Air Force Base, Republic of Panama)



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concrete :flooring remains in the ground-floor storage room. The concrete flooring in the ground-floor servant's room, closet, and bath has been covered with green asbestos tile.

4. Wall and Ceiling Finishes: Virtually all interior wall locations and surfaces are original to the construction of the building. The hollow tile partitions are plastered and painted cream. Structural columns appear as wall projections throughout the building. Both firstfloor baths have ceramic tile wainscoting that extends to an approximate height of 4'. The shower stall in Bath 1 and tub in Bath 2 retain their original ceramic tile surrounds. Both rise to an approximate height of 6'6". A 7' louvered partition sections off part of the former living porch for the master bedroom (No. 1) suite.

Original plastered insulation board ceilings remain in all of the first-floor spaces. Structural beams appear as ceiling projections throughout the building. Wooden strips on the ceilings create a coffered effect in all first-floor rooms except the closets and pantry. The concrete floor slab system is exposed in the ground-floor spaces.

5. Openings:

a. ~: Original solid wood 6-panel doors are typical. When used at a closet, the lowest two panels are louvered. When used between bedrooms and the dining, living, and former living porch areas, the upper four panels are louvered. For baths they are solid without louvers. Some solid wood 3-panel doors are found at Bedrooms 2 and 3. The closet in Bedroom 1 has a variation of this 3-panel door. Here the single upper panel is filled with a mirror and the lower two panels are louvered. This is an original door. The living porch has a 1-panel 1-light replacement door at the temporary louvered partition. Louvers over the glass in the door provide privacy. Doors between the spaces of the master bedroom suite have been removed. A bi-fold louvered door separates the suite from the living/dining areas. Originally, wood bar transoms over the interior doors allowed air to circulate through the interior of the house. Most of these openings remain intact, even when their door openings are blocked. Some of the doors on the ground floor have plywood obscuring their panels. The original 2" beveled wood door frames are typical throughout.

b. Windows: Two window types dominate: the aluminum jalousie and the wood 3-light casement. The first type is found on the upper story and it replaces the original wood casements and insect screens. Their original screened transoms remain intact at the exterior, but have been filled and plastered at the interior. At these windows, interior frames are aluminum and sills are plain concrete insets. In Bedroom 1, a set of former



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exterior windows are now interior openings since the enclosure of the living porch. The glass has been removed and the frames and sills remain in place. At some locations, jalousie louvers are missing from their frames. A fixed light has been secured over the jalousie window in Bathroom 1.

The second window type is original to the building and located at the ground-floor perimeter. Each casement has an interior wood-framed screen that covers the entire opening. Original 2" decorative wood frames and 4" wood sills remain at these windows.

6. Decorative Features and Trim: An original wood crown molding runs the perimeter of all upper-level spaces. The original 6" concrete base (without its clay tile cove finish) is typical of all rooms in the house, except at Bath 2. Here the base is made up of dark green 5" by 6" ceramic tiles. A 2-112" wainscot molding runs the perimeter of the kitchen and pantry. A picture molding runs the perimeter of the living/dining areas and the bedrooms.

7. Hardware: Virtually all of the knobs and key locks are Rushwin-brand originals. The jalousie window cranks are not original to the building. Deadbolt locks secure doors to the kitchen and servant's room. Pivoting door hardware remains at the pantry door frames even though the doors have been removed. The bi-fold door to the master suite has the same knob and key lock as the rest of the interior doors. Bath 1 has a sliding lock, Bath 2 has hook locks, and the servant's bath has a tum lock.

8. Mechanical Equipment:

a. Heating and Air Conditioning, Ventilation: A central-zone air conditioning system cools the entire first floor. Part of the unit is mounted high between the pantry and kitchen store room. A Lennox condenser sits on an exterior concrete pad southeast of the building. Rooms on the ground floor are naturally vented. Minor spaces, such as closets, are cooled from adjacent rooms. All closets in Building 29 are former dry closets that featured a single dry-bulb fixture for reducing humidity. These features no longer function, so the bulbs were removed and the fixtures sealed with metal plates.

b. Lighting: Most lighting in Building 29 is provided by replacement ceiling-mounted incandescent fixtures. Some are bare-bulb fixtures, while others have covers that are square plates or round disk enclosures. One in the servant's bath is protected by ajar-like cover. Wall-mounted incandescent fixtures are found in the kitchen store room, as well as over the lavatories in Baths 1 and 2. Newer hanging incandescent chandeliers



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illuminate the dining and living areas. The token fluorescent fixture is a circular one at the kitchen ceiling. The only other electrical devices in the building are the door bell in the pantry and the electrical safety switch in the kitchen store room.

c. Plumbing Fixtures: The original Crane-brand plumbing fixtures remain largely intact. Valve toilets are Crane Welling models, pedestal lavatories are Crane Ipswich models, the pantry sink and drain boards are Crane, and miscellaneous faucets and fixtures are Crane. An exception is the toilet in Bath 1 which is a Downing-brand type. Shower heads are all replacements. The bathrooms retain other original features including the Bath 2 tub and Bath 1 shower. The latter retains its 6" ceramic tile water retention step. In the kitchen a two-well stainless steel sink replaces the original sink and drain board. A plumbing trap from the first floor protrudes from the ceiling of the ground-floor servant's closet. The ground-floor laundry area has a double-well concrete utility sink resting on a metal stand. The nearby water heater is a replacement. Much of the plumbing is exposed at the beams and columns at the ground-floor carport area.

d. Conveyance Systems: None.

9. Original Furnishings: The closets retain their original wooden shelves, screened boot shelves (some only the bracing), hanging rods, and coat hooks. The kitchen store room has its original shelving as well. Cabinetry in the pantry and dining area is original. Both areas feature original drawers, cabinets, adjustable shelves, double cabinet doors with 6-or 10-light configurations, and wooden countertops. The upper cabinets are backed with painted tongue-and-groove wood. The china cabinet in the dining area has an additional feature -- a buffet mirror between the countertop and upper cabinets. The bathrooms have various combinations of their original features, including steel curtain rods, ceramic towel rods, ceramic soap dishes, ceramic toilet paper dispensers, wooden cabinets and drawers, and metal medicine cabinets with mirrors. In addition, Bath 2 has an original ceramic glass holder, and Bath 1 has a replacement countertop that runs between its cabinets and lavatory. All of the original ceramic bath features are decorated with a telescoping triangle motif. Virtually all the features in the kitchen and servant's bath are replacements.

D. Site:

l. General Setting and Orientation: Building 29 faces south and west towards the Pacific inlet to the Panama Canal (Figures 5 and 6). Northward bound on Canfield Avenue from Old Curundu Road, it is the eighth quarters of its type on the right side of the street. It is



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situated on an incline that leads to the high point of the installation. All of the quarters in this section of Canfield A venue are of similar style and construction. The formal entrance to Building 29 is on the southwest side of the building.

2. Historic Landscape Design: No historic landscape plan was found. It is known, however, that the palms that line both sides of Canfield A venue were important to the image of the base (Figure 7). In the mid-1930s, difficulties in getting vegetation to grow in the infertile fill soil prompted Major E. A. Lohman to assign a group of these trees to each officer. The officers were instructed to tend to the trees, and iftheir trees died, they would be court-martialed.3

The location of the building in a row of high-ranking officers' quarters is indicative of its importance. Public sidewalks run along the avenue in front of the residences. A small sidewalk and stair branch off to Building 29. An original boot scrape is fixed in the concrete just prior to the building's front entry stairs. Yucas, palms, birds of paradise, fems, orchids, pines, philodendrons, hibiscus, and cactus plants are plentiful at the building's perimeter, many within the irregular stone retaining walls at the south end of the building. A secondary drive behind the building links the quarters in the area and provides vehicular access to Building 29 on the north side. The driveway is asphalt, defined by stone curbing, and leads to the recessed carport on the ground-floor level. The original steel pipe clothes line, completed on 15 December 1932 at a cost of $12.61, remains in the yard on the northeast side of the building. Eighteen-inch surface drains divert rain water to the south comer of the lot. A section of drain on the northwest side has flattened through time and water builds up at this point.

3. Outbuildings: None.

3 Historical Section, Sixth Air Force, History of Albrook Field: Introduction, 1931-1938, Enclosure #8.

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Figure 5. Map of Albrook Air Force Station, showing location of Building 29. (Source: Army Community Service, U.S. Army Garrison-Panama, Corozal, Republic of Panama)



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Figure 6. Aerial view of Albrook Field, ca. 1932. (Source: History Office, Howard Air Force Base, Republic of Panama)



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Figure 7. View of Canfield Avenue from Old Curundu Road intersection showing palms, ca. June 1943. (Source: History Office, Howard Air Force Base, Republic of Panama)

albrook air force station, habs no. cz-10-b company

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