Question: I've been watching developments in the state Capitol rotunda. First, four walls came up around the mosaic. Then those walls were painted. After the rain during the last week of October, a tent was added. Each new step made me cringe. This is taxpayer money. If all they're doing is fixing the cracks, why should this work have to be performed behind closed doors? Or are they un-installing it secretly?

Answer: There is no conspiracy to conceal work on famed Maui artist Tadashi Sato's circular mosaic, “;Aquarius.”;

Much more is going on than repairing cracks.

What's happening is the second replacement of the 36-foot-diameter artwork, which was completed a year after the Capitol opened in 1969.

The first replacement, in 1988, cost nearly $200,000, including $95,000 for new tiles. The cost of the original mosaic was not available.

This time around, the mosaic will be “;much closer to what Tadashi had desired”; - artistically - than either of the first two interpretations, said Jonathan Johnson, project manager of the Art in Public Places Program for the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

This time around, also, the mosaic will be laid in a more stable and waterproof foundation, and allowed to expand and contract without cracking.

“;We've been working on this long enough so, hopefully, this time we'll get it right,”; Johnson said.

Because of severe damage to the last mosaic, all 6 million or so glass tiles are being removed and replaced, said state Comptroller Russ Saito, head of the Department of Accounting and General Services. The total cost of the project is $1,460,277, he said.

The old tiles will be destroyed, “;as agreed with the artist,”; he said.

DAGS is the overall overseer of the project, while the State Foundation is looking out for the artistic elements.

There were four technical problems that had to be addressed:

» Cracking and buckling of the mosaic itself because of moisture problems and because crucial expansion joints had not previously been installed.

» Insufficient surface drainage, which allowed water to pond around the mosaic. The “;isolation sheet”; and original waterproof membrane under the mosaic did not provide adequate drainage.

» Because of cracking, rainwater was able to seep down, then rise back to the surface when heated during the day. The water brought up soluble minerals from the grout and mortar, creating efflorescence (powdery deposits caused by moisture).

» The glass tiles were crumbling because of exposure.

The replacement work, which began in mid-October, is targeted for completion in July. The schedule calls for demolition and plumbing work to be done this month, drainage work in December, shipment of the glass-tiled mosaic, in segments, to Hawaii in March and installation in June.

On the technical side, Saito explained that the “;setting bed”; of the mosaic will be replaced to provide a better foundation and better subsurface drainage. That, in turn, will reduce chances of efflorescence and cracks recurring.

Drainage around the mosaic also will be improved to minimize ponding.

The temporary fencing and tenting are to provide a safety barrier as well as protection from the weather - not to keep anything secret, Saito said.

“;We do not want rainwater to seep through the rotunda floor during construction into the chamber-level auditorium below,”; he said.

Before his death, Sato participated in discussions with the design team that developed specifications for the mosaic replacement. The project originally was bid on in May 2004 but was suspended because funding was not available at the time.

Sato died in 2005 at age 82.

“;Aquarius,”; which depicts submerged stones as reflected through ocean water, originally was made of glass tiles imported from Italy.

The replacement tiles also were made in Italy, but they'll be assembled and installed by a company in Germany that has specialized in architectural glass and mosaics since the 1800s.

Franz Mayer of Munich Inc. won the nonbid contract for $427,000.

In requesting permission to hire the company without going out to bid, DAGS noted, “;Two previous installations going the low-bid route failed because of poor materials and workmanship.”;

Asked about that, Saito said the selection was based on “;cost, appearance and durability.”;

Glass mosaic companies from Italy, Mexico and Germany provided sample interpretations of “;Aquarius”; for review by Sato and the design team, he said.

Sato then “;selected the sample that he felt was the best interpretation of his work,”; which was the Italian glass assembled by the Franz Mayer company.

The company's “;excellent workmanship, reputation and guarantee of their work, combined with the traditional Italian glass at a fair price,”; led to the design team's recommendation, Saito said.

Meanwhile, Johnson said, “;We met with Tadashi quite a bit prior to initiating”; the current replacement project.

In addition to Sato's original painting, used as inspiration for the 1969 mosaic, the design team had access to a 31/2-foot-diameter glass mosaic “;maquette”; - or model - of “;Aquarius.”;

From the first replacement project, the team also had the original colorboard of glass tiles from Italy as well as photos of the original mosaic taken before demolition.

All those resources were sent to Germany.

Franz Mayer then ordered glass tiles made in the more durable “;old style,”; and about one-eighth of an inch thick - less than half the size of the old tiles.

Those tiles, plus better technology, have allowed the German artisans to make the new glass mosaic “;look like (Sato's) exact brush strokes,”; Johnson said.

While the colors will be the same, the way the tiles flow and curve will give more depth to the mosaic, “;So it will look slightly different, but it will be much closer”; to Sato's ideal, he said.

At the end of the process, the replacement mosaic, built in sections and numbered, will be reassembled by the Germans at the Capitol “;like a giant jigsaw puzzle.”;

Franz Mayer insisted on a three-month curing time for the “;mortarboard,”; which accounts for the long lag time between demolition and installation.

In the end, “;It's going to be glorious,”; Johnson said.