Under The Onion Dome: Reviving Colt’s Signature Building

March 23--The widow of Sam Colt rebuilt Hartford's iconic East Armory after a devastating fire in the 1860s with one thought in mind: Use the latest fire-proofing techniques to ensure the structure would never succumb to fire again.

And live on it did. The firearms factory under the familiar blue onion dome became a hub of innovation and assembly-line production in the Industrial Revolution. Those glory days have long since faded, however, and for more than a decade, the East Armory has stood largely vacant, decaying.

Now, Elizabeth Colt's vision for survival is entering the Information Age.

A renovation of the East Armory, built to resemble its burned out predecessor, has kicked into high gear. Its steel roof was replaced last summer, most likely for the first time in its 148-year history, and part of the second floor was converted to classroom space for the Capitol Region Education Council.

The rest of the second floor is now being converted for CREC's Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Middle School. And the third floor is being readied for an expansion of Insurity, already a major commercial tenant elsewhere on the sprawling Colt complex, just south of downtown Hartford. Insurity develops and services software for the auto and home insurance industry.

This summer, workers will begin restoring the facade, focusing on stabilizing masonry and replacing windows to match the originals.

Future plans call for 24 loft-style apartments on the fourth floor. Also envisioned is a visitors center on the first floor, which would provide access to the dome.

Reaching A Milestone

"The East Armory is a local and, to some extent, a national icon, so we consider its rehabilitation to be the paramount development milestone for the complex and a significant milestone for the city and the state as well," said Larry Dooley, managing partner of Hartford-based CG Management, the project's developer.

The total price tag for the renovations could reach $20 million. So far, the state has approved grants of $6 million. State and federal historic tax credits could bring the total to about $8 million. CREC has invested $5 million. Funding for the apartments and the visitors center still must be secured.

To a large extent, the crumbling appearance of the East Armory -- visible to tens of thousands of motorists daily on I-91 -- has masked recent successes. In addition to Insurity, CREC has become a major tenant in four structures, most recently renovating the "U-Shaped" building for its Two Rivers Magnet High School.

All 50 apartments in the South Armory on Huyshope Avenue are leased, an additional 79 are being built. Commercial tenants, such as Foley Carrier Services, also occupy space in the South Armory.

Some wonder why the East Armory has fallen to a later phase of the $120 million Colt complex revitalization project.

"The one building that matters the most has been sitting there for 15 years," said William Hosley, a Hartford-area historical consultant and author of the book "Colt: The Making of An American Legend."

Dooley said work initially focused on the sawtooth building -- so named for the 1,500 skylights that jut out from its roof like the serrated edge of a saw -- because Insurity was interested in the space. A previous developer decided to focus first on the South Armory because it offered the opportunity to develop the largest number of apartments, key to the vision of transforming the industrial complex into a mixed-use community.

The redevelopment also stalled for years when a previous developer -- Homes for America -- ran out of money and major structures fell into foreclosure. Dooley took over as developer in 2010, though he had been involved in the project since 2006. Chevron TCI, a longtime investor in the project, now controls the property.

The renovations now underway on the second and third floors have included the ripping out of deteriorating wooden floors. That work has revealed what passed for state-of-the-art fireproofing in the 1860s: brick arches joining wrought iron joists to form the floors of the factory.

Fire Of 1864

In his book, Hosley said authorities never determined the cause of the fire, which hit Feb. 5, 1864. But he cited a Scientific American article published in the weeks afterward reporting that "the fact that 'the fire broke out ... during the only half-hour in 24 when a watchman was not present' and that Colt's had recently hired 'a deserter from the rebels' gave speculation of Confederate arson great currency."

The Courant reported that blame also was placed on "cotton waste" that may have ignited near "a drying room heated by steam pipes...[and] filled with pistol stock."

The East Armory was rebuilt in two years and resembled the one that was destroyed, though there were differences. Brick was substituted for Portland brownstone, and an additional story was added, making the new structure four stories, plus an attic. The dome -- topped by a rampant colt -- was a replica of the one that came crashing down in the fire.

In an interview, Hosley said the factory may have been the first in the country to be fire-proofed. The Hartford Times reported in 1866 that 3-foot-thick firewalls were built at a cost of $300,000 -- roughly $5.2 million in today's dollars.

Though developers are replacing the wood floors, they are retaining all the original brick work as well as the wrought iron, spiral stairways and banisters.

Colt has already been designated a National Park Landmark, but the push for national park designation has foundered for years. The idea has broad support among Connecticut's delegation, but a politically divided Congress in recent years has stymied passage.

Again this year, a bill supporting national park status has been introduced.

"Two things that have impeded national park status from happening are politics and money in Washington and securing the sustainability of the Colt complex in Hartford," Hosley said.

Dooley said the complex is making great strides toward turning Colt into one that can operate on its own, especially as more buildings are renovated. The work on the East Armory will be the most significant so far, and could boost the argument for a national park.

"When the East Armory is restored to National Park Service standards," Dooley said, "people will see that we are serious about preserving our symbols of Hartford's impressive industrial and architectural heritage."

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