The entrance to the visitors center opens just down the hill from the State Capitol. Steve Helber/ASSOCIATED PRESS View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

State Capitol reopening today

Capitol renovation work complete

BY CHELYEN DAVIS

Date published: 5/1/2007

BY CHELYEN DAVIS

RICHMOND--Yesterday afternoon, workers were still laying sod outside the state Capitol building. They got done just in time for the first black-tied guests to enter the newly renovated Capitol for a gala to kick off the building's reopening.

After two years and $104.5 million, the project is finished. Guests at last night's event entered the way the public will in the future, through a new, 2,700 square foot underground addition that's dominated by a long hallway ascending from the bottom of the hill up to the ground floor of the old building.

Lined in yellowish Jerusalem limestone, the hall connects new meeting rooms, a gallery space, press rooms and a cafe, and will house a visitors center as well. Visitors will go up a series of ramps and staircases to reach the main Capitol building, entering under the South Portico steps.

Upstairs in the main building are refurbished House and Senate chambers. The rotunda area features the famous Houdon statue of George Washington, which remained where it was throughout the construction--it was deemed too delicate to move, so Washington was boxed in while the Capitol was repainted and rebuilt around him.

Once-white walls are now a soft yellow. The Old Senate chamber is now decorated in yellow and green, and the former office of the House clerk has been turned into a room to honor Thomas Jefferson, the Capitol's designer.

Jefferson's vision was the primary direction for the whole renovation and construction project, said lead architect George Skearmas.

"The initial promise, Jefferson's temple on the hill, is what guided everything," Skearmas said.

He said the architects strove to maintain elements of classical design, along with elements that speak uniquely of Virginia.

For example, he said that the new visitor's entrance, which is designed with columns and a flat roof like a temple, was inspired by a temple at Bremo, a Colonial estate in Fluvanna County designed by Jefferson. That temple, in turn, was inspired by a monument in Athens, Skearmas said.

Of all the building, though, Skearmas said his favorite part is the rotunda--"a space created by a genius."

He said Jefferson "essentially created a center of gravity in the building," and noted that through all the design changes and additions to the Capitol over the years, the rotunda has remained intact.

The building will reopen to the public today, after a rededication ceremony. Last night's gala was for legislators, state officials and other invited guests.

This is the first time the extension has been open; the main Capitol building was open earlier in April for the legislature's one-day veto session.

Lawmakers at last night's event were pleased with the underground extension area, which they were seeing for the first time.

"Wow. This is great," said Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania. "This is the way to really show it to the world."

"It looks like a great way to welcome people to Virginia," said Del. Ed Scott, R-Culpeper.

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Date published: 5/1/2007