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November 9, 1999 DES MOINES, Iowa --When 60-70-pound chunks of plaster and brick began falling off the state capitol building and rains began deteriorating the plaster in the late 1970s, officials knew it was time to restore the nearly 120-year-old building. But no one did anything about it until 1983. Julie Livers, director of legislative information, said Iowa is one of the few states that houses all three branches of government in one building. "There is no one entity that controls it, so there's not a lot of continuity as to who will maintain it," Livers said. Iowans spent $3 million to build their state capitol building in 1886 while most other states were only spending around $1 million on their capitols. The 29 kinds of colorful marble throughout the building far outweigh other statesÕ capitol buildings, which only have two kinds, Livers said. Yet this is only one of the things the builders did to make the building unique. The capitol was built with pride to create pride, Livers said. "You can tell the builders had pride in what they were doing for the state's people because they even signed their names," she said. "They wanted the people to know that it wasn't just for the government." Livers said that because of this confusion as to who should take the first step toward restoration, the decision probably took longer than it should have. "We had one of the best capitols by comparison," she said. "But we have not taken very good care of it. We have just let it go down. It's like a slum area." Mark Willemssen, legislative facilities manager, has been with the restoration project since a few months after it first began in 1983. He said the exterior should be finished by summer of 2000. The interior is likely to be completed in November. Workers are about one month away from completing the regilding of the main dome with 23 and three-quarters karat gold. Willemssen said the copper domes have been primed and sheets of gold leaf are being rolled onto them with a wallpaper-like paste on the domes called size. Inside restoration is on hold. Willemssen said 8,000 square feet of rooms on the northeast corner of the buildingÕs second-and-third-floor mezzanine levels will be removed. These were built in the 1960s to early 1970s and do not meet today's fire code. The capitol will soon have sprinkler and fire detection systems, Willemssen said, which will be the buildingÕs first. Elevators will also be built behind each chamber in order to meet American Disabilities Association regulations. "Issues on making the capitol handicap-accessible, yet maintaining its historical integrity, are also at hand," he said. There is currently no air conditioning in the capitol, but a new cooling, heating and ventilation system will be installed by the end of the interior renovation, Willemssen said. Although the rotundas are too big to be air-conditioned, he said they will get overflow from offices. "Some rooms get hot even in the wintertime," he said. "Those ones are surrounded by layers of brick, and they just absorb the heat." Livers said other states have tougher guidelines as to what can be changed about their capitolsÕ appearances. In the past, she said, workers in Iowa put varnish on marble instead of shining it, but in time, it turned the marble yellowish. "We have no board overseeing our capitol that tells us someone can't put mauve carpeting in their office if they want to instead of a historic carpeting," Livers said. "We have a lot to do. I don't know if it will ever be done." Willemssen said the capitol is a "flagship" building of the state, so it should be taken care of. He said appraisers have estimated that if an exact replica of the building were to be built today, it would cost between $500 million and $1 billion. "Iowans can point to it and say it's a part of history and culture," he said. "It's like an old house, we just have to get it weather tight again." |