June 9, 2001

Purple Money

Sacramento County taxpayer money is now being used to support the art of interior decorating. Instead, taxpayer money might be more effectively put to use in training county employees the fine art of what does and does not work when decorating the interior of new employee buildings. The first floor of the new two-story building on Armstrong Avenue at the old Mather Air Force base near Rancho Cordova is a prime example.

From the outside, the building looks like an average taxpayer-funded building. It has plenty of windows, and the architect who designed it obviously got paid more than he was worth. He had some good ideas, and miraculously did use a few of them. The slightly rounded arch in the center of the building prevents it from looking like a rectangular gingerbread house with a flat roof.

Any individual with some spare time can see the building: Take Highway 50 to Mather Field Road and head south into the former military base. The building is the biggest--and only--eyesore in the area.

To fully experience this man-made marvel, one must see the inside of the building. The second floor is still under construction--much to the consternation of the employees below--but the first floor is now inhabited by a little less than 100 employees of the Water Quality department.

On first glance, the interior of the building seems harmless, and maybe even professional. Tall ceilings and an open lobby greet the newcomer, and doors branch off to the east and west wings of the building. Both wings are similar, although the west wing has the employee "break room." This break room has potential to become a chef's delight, with its two refrigerators complete with icemakers, a large sink and a name-brand stove. An island in the center supplies additional counter space and cupboards, and there is plenty of room for a multitude of cooks to operate simultaneously.

Both wings have ample supplies of restrooms and, more remarkably, showers. Most employees work at desks, so the need for multiple showers is not readily apparent. However, the showers are quite politically correct, with the co-ed signs on the doors. Again, the reason for co-ed showers is not obvious to the casual observer.

The rest of the space is taken up with two very long, rather wide, hallways and numerous shapes and sizes of cubicles, all constructed of Herman Miller furniture. Herman Miller must have an extremely odd sense of humor, as he has become so well known for his prison-like office furniture that the cubicles are often referred to as "Herman Millers."

The color-blind observer would admire the building, explore it and then leave. However, the building offers so much more viewing pleasure for those who can distinguish purple from other colors that would normally be seen in office buildings. While most of the walls in this building are standard off-white, some are a deep, dark purple. The tall ceilings allow for these walls to easily be seen over the tops of the "Herman Millers."

To make viewing more stimulating, there is the occasional sage green wall. How this color coordinates with the tan cubicles and the startling purple walls is a mystery to be revealed only by the decorator, if anyone at all. However, the carpet has nearly every color known to mankind in it, so one might assert that all colors coordinate harmoniously.

The most amazing part of this first floor--and perhaps in the whole building--is the color scheme in the "break room." The refrigerators and stove are black, but all other cupboards are the same brilliant purple that can be found on various walls throughout the building. Even more amazing is the ceiling. It has inset lights, but these do not detract from the color. Yes, that color is purple. Deep purple. Shiny purple. Taxpayer money at work.