|
The new House chamber was part of the media tour yesterday Each member's desk in the newly renovated Capitol will feature a new voting/speaking control. |
By CHELYEN DAVIS
RICHMOND--In the state Senate chambers, a veil of dust covers the 40 wooden desks. Wires and cords snake down into holes cut in the carpet.
Outside the door, plywood still covers a valuable Houdon statue of George Washington.
But in the chamber, the walls and ceiling seem to glow, thanks to a terracotta-color paint, rose-red damask-looking panels, a refurbished skylight, and warm-hued decorative paintings around the ceiling.
This is the Senate chamber, part of the massive, $104 million Capitol renovation project that is winding to a close.
It's not done yet--workers outside are still building walkways, the main hall of the Capitol is still covered in dropcloths and "wet paint" signs, but the House and Senate chambers are almost finished.
And they're gorgeous.
Both chambers are to be done, and cleaned up, by Wednesday, when legislators will return to the building. For the first time since 2005, the House and Senate will hold a session--their one-day veto session--in their old chambers.
Gone is paint that House Clerk Bruce Jamerson refers to as "apartment white," which used to cover the House of Delegates' chamber walls. Gone is blue carpet from the 1980s and out-of-place chandeliers.
In place of that old decor is a re-creation of how the House and Senate chambers were decorated around 1906, after the Capitol's last major renovation.
Using old photographs and records, as well as analyzing 24 layers of paint, experts were able to determine that the chambers had decorative paintings on the ceiling and on wall panels--in fact, workers uncovered some of the original paintings on the House chamber ceiling, and left one piece of that to show visitors how the original looked.
They used photographs to re-create period carpeting--red for the Senate, blue for the House. And they also found a swatch of rose-colored fabric on a wall when they removed a marble plaque that had hung there for decades, and could see from pictures that the chambers once had no chandeliers, but instead had glass globe lamps.
"When you start renovating a Capitol, you have to pick a period to go back to," said Senate Clerk Susan Schaar.
The newly renovated chambers, then, have frosted glass lights that look like old gas lamps, a fixture that is repeated throughout the building. They both have wall panels painted to look like the original rose damask fabric. Recessed lighting around the ceiling shows off the warm colors of the decorative paint.
In the House, portraits of former House speakers, as well as several marble plaques, have been removed to the hallway. Both chambers have the members' wooden desks, which have been in use since 1906. A majority of the House's 100 desks have been refurbished in the two years they've been out of use while House members made do with plastic tables in their temporary chambers; the rest of the House desks and all the Senate ones will be refurbished after the veto session on Wednesday.
But while the colors and the muted lighting make the chambers look old and warm, other signs point out just how much this renovation was intended to bring the Capitol into the 21st century.
Big new electronic voting boards hang from the wall in both the House and Senate. Plasma-screen TV monitors hang in committee meeting rooms down on the first floor.
And technology isn't the only modernization. Bathrooms for the delegates have been built in what was once a staircase--as recently as a few years ago, women delegates still had to go outside the chamber to public restrooms, while there was a restroom in the private members' lounge for the men.
An entire new area of the Capitol has been built underground--where an information desk, the press rooms, and a restaurant will be located--and that is still undergoing some work. Above-ground, workers are still laying sod and finishing the steps to the portico and laying sidewalk. And even on Wednesday, no one will be able to go beyond the Capitol's first two floors.
But Jamerson said the goal is still to have the whole project finished and ready to be shown by April 31--a gala is scheduled for that night, to celebrate the project, and the building is to be rededicated on May 1. Crews have been working two shifts--the work starts at 3 a.m. and ends at 11 p.m.--to be ready on time.
More immediately, cleaning crews will start on the chambers this Sunday, after the last-minute wirings and renovations are done. New chairs for the House members are to be delivered on Monday--except for the speaker's chair, which has been in use for 60 years and will just be reupholstered.
All that will be left before legislators arrive Wednesday morning, eager to be back in their historic chambers, is the "final dotting the i's and crossing the t's," Jamerson said.
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362| Aug. 18, 1785: cornerstone laid for Capitol building
October 1788: General Assembly first met in the building 1798: Brick walls received finishing coat of stucco 1904-1906: Major renovation, involving adding the wings and installing granite steps on the South Portico April 2004: Outside construction began on the next major renovation Fall 2004: Excavation of the south lawn began October 2006: 24 granite stairs on the South Portico were removed. Each granite piece--there are more than 180 of them--weighs between 1,000 and 5,000 pounds April 2007: Building scheduled to be ready for occupation Total cost, including furnishings: $104.5 million 27,000 tons of earth were removed from the south lawn to build the underground extension 10,000 tons will be returned to cover it up The extension used 180 tons of structural steel --equal to the weight of 30 male adult elephants The electrical wiring consists of about 25 miles of piping and tubing Information from the Department of General Services |
