In Memory: Scott Wayne Theobald March 4, 1953 - February 26, 2023

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["sup"]],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Scott Theobald passed away on February 26, 2023, a few days\nbefore his 70"],[0,[0],1,"th"],[0,[],0," birthday. At his retirement in 2018, he was the Senior\nVice President of Design West Architects, in Logan, Utah. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I once asked this rhetorical question\u2026\u201cHow will Design West\nsurvive when Scott Theobald retires?\u201d\u2026because it will be impossible to download\nto others in the firm the incredibly diverse body of professional knowledge\nwhich he had accumulated over the years. \nBut then, that must be true for every architect who has made a\ndifference in their firm. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Blake Wright, who is the current President of Design West, likes\nto remind his staff that \u201cWe are Survivors\u201d\u2026and it is true; the firm survived\nevery economic downturn since the 1890s\u2026and it survived the unthinkable in\n1985, when three principals died in a plane crash. But the reality is that the company did not\nsurvive by trying to stay the same\u2026that was not possible\u2026it necessarily changed\ncourse\u2026it necessarily became a different firm\u2026with a different flavor. The voids left by retiring principals can\nnever be filled completely, but new people bring new talents and develop new\ndirections. And it\u2019s all good\u2026it\u2019s the\nway of life. And at Design West, we\nthought it healthy for the company to perform some regular self-examination\u2026\u201cWho\nand what have we been in the past?\u2026Who and what are we today?...Who and what do\nwe want to be in the future?\u201d So, this narrative is about Scott Theobald\u2026Who he\nwas and what he contributed to the ever-changing design firm known as Design\nWest Architects. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Scott was born and raised in California, where he developed\nhis considerable talents as a high school athlete. He was blessed with the quick-switch reflexes\nof a sprinter, which explains why he was a star short-stop in baseball and a skilled\nbasketball player most of his adult life. After high school, his family moved\nto New York, where he obtained a Fine Arts degree from the State University of\nNew York. In 1979 he obtained a Master\nof Architecture degree from the University of Utah, and then chose to return to\nNew York for the next four years. It was\nwhile working in Rochester, New York, that Scott met and married his wife Jan,\nand also developed his lifelong professional love for Historic Preservation and\nthe design of Performing Arts facilities."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Scott Theobald joined Design West in March, 1983. His\ntiming was impeccable, because during the 1983 Christmas break at Utah State\nUniversity, fire severely damaged the North Wing of Old Main, which was the original\nacademic building on campus. Old Main had\nbeen designed, in part, by K C Schaub, who was the founder of Design West in\n1892. Scott Theobald\u2019s experience with\nHistoric Preservation helped Design West win the assignment to help USU save their\nflagship building. Over the next 15\nyears, Scott led three major projects to rehabilitate the entire 156,000 sf historic\nbuilding. The project received multiple awards, including recognition as one of\nthe \u201cTop 25 Rehabilitation Projects of the 20th Century\u201d in Utah. Scott quickly became recognized as one of\nUtah\u2019s leading Historic Preservation practitioners. Just prior to Scott\u2019s retirement, Utah State\nUniversity asked Scott to help prepare a memorial display within the halls of Old\nMain, recognizing the original architect K C Schaub, the 1983 fire and the\nRehabilitation Project, led by Scott Theobald. That was a remarkable\nprofessional honor."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In 1985 Scott Theobald was charged with filling a\nleadership void when Richard Clyde died in a plane crash at the Logan Airport. Scott continued the company\u2019s K-12 school design\nthroughout the western states, and its associated Energy Conservation\ninitiatives. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Scott had also been assisting Richard on the design of the\nBridgerland Applied Technology College, and he was now tasked with leading the\nproject which required Scott\u2019s attention through six phases, over the next 12\nyears. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Due to the loss of Richard Clyde, Scott was required to\ntake over the design of Design West\u2019s first Year Round Education (YRE) school\nin Oxnard, California when computer drafting technology was in its infancy. That\nproject demonstrated that Scott Theobald was also able to embrace innovation\nand significant changes facing the profession. \nIn 1985, Scott was the first architect at Design West to produce construction\ndocuments for a school entirely in CAD (computer aided design)."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The workload imposed on Scott and others in the company in\n1985 was difficult, if not impossible, but Scott\u2019s positive response cemented his\nleadership role at Design West. He was\ninvited to become a principal owner of the firm in 1994."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Scott Theobald\u2019s involvement in the design of High Schools\nthroughout the western states gave him the opportunity to resurrect his love of\nPerforming Arts facilities. One of his\nfavorite design projects was the Eccles Performing Arts Theater in Park City, which\nreceived multiple design awards, and even high praise from the Choir and\nOrchestra at Temple Square. But that was\njust one of his many Performing Arts projects. Closer to home Scott worked with\nMichael Ballam, founder of the Utah Festival Opera Company, on major projects for\nthe Ellen Eccles Theater and the Utah Theater, which elevated the level of\nPerforming Arts facilities in Northern Utah."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Early in Scott\u2019s career with Design West, he demonstrated his\nremarkable diversity of interest and capability. He could do everything. He became the company\u2019s primary Specification\nWriter. And since he understood the practical\nand legal connection between drawings and specifications, he also became the Manager\nof Quality Control at Design West. Many\nyoung architects learned the hard way from Scott\u2019s merciless red-lining of\ntheir construction documents. He always\nexplained that personal discomfort in the design studio is much preferable to the\npotential embarrassment and legal liability of Design West in the construction\nfield."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Design West enjoyed a highly successful networking\nrelationship with HKS Architects of Dallas, Texas. The relationship lasted for 35 years, and was\nkey to Design West\u2019s success in the heathcare market. Scott Theobald was a trusted member of the HKS-Design\nWest team. The IHC Women\u2019s and\nChildren\u2019s Hospital in Provo was one of Scott\u2019s finest projects. Likewise, Design West trusted Scott Theobald\nto team with HKS on the Widtsoe Chemistry and Science Learning Center at Utah\nState University."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Scott was also a key member of Design West\u2019s 2002 Winter\nOlympics Housing project team at the University of Utah. That led to many\nStudent Housing projects, not the least of which was an 11 year assignment for\nDesign West at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado. That was a unique experience, which elevated\nScott Theobald\u2019s contribution to Design West even further. One of his projects was\nCMU\u2019s Business and Technology building which was determined by independent\nevaluators to be the most energy efficient public building on the Eastern Slope\nof Colorado. It received a LEED Gold\nCertificate, without the need for any special design initiatives by Scott; LEED\nGold was simply the natural result of Scott\u2019s standard sustainable design\napproach. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I believe that one of Scott Theobald\u2019s major contributions\nto Design Wes\u00adt--and the architectural profession--was his demonstrated ability\nto establish positive teaming relationships between contractors and architects\nin the era of Design\/Build project delivery. I was told by one highly successful\ncontractor that his superintendents had voted Scott Theobald their \u201cArchitect\nof Choice.\u201d Scott\u2019s relationship with on-site\nsuperintendents always started with the declaration that \u201cMy only job is to\nhelp make you successful,\u201d and he defined success as \u201cProjects which are\ndelivered on-time, on-budget, without major issues.\u201d His approach was based on genuine\nrespect for all those who work in construction, and it involved a commitment to\nmutual trust in the teaming relationship. That personal skill is one which can and\nshould be shared widely."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Scott\u2019s wife Jan enjoyed a very successful career as an\neducator in the Cache County School District. \nTogether they looked forward to the opportunity to serve as senior missionaries\nfor their Church. So, when Jan retired, Scott also retired\u2026and fortunately, they\nwere able to live their next dream together."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Even so\u2026Scott\u2019s passing was way too premature\u2026and we will\nmiss him."]]]]}