Lucas Deaton of Walton, a lawyer for the Kentucky Bar Association, brought his 5-year-old daughter, Audrey, to see Kentucky’s grandest building — the state Capitol — before it closes to the public for several years.
A most lonely place greeted them on their Dads-Take-Daughters-to-Work outing on a hot day in early summer.
The famous statues of Lincoln and other Kentucky notables were there for the father and daughter to admire. So were the impressive dome and rotunda, along with the four-story building’s 70 iconic columns, sky lights and other striking architectural features and opulent decorative finishes.
But nearly gone from the Capitol were the hundreds of people who usually make it a most busy place.
The Capitol has not been so desolate on a workday since before June 2, 1910, when Gov. Augustus Willson joined former governors, judges, generals, members of Congress and thousands of proud Kentuckians in grand ceremonies to open Kentucky’s new Capitol for business.
Soon there will be nobody working in the building except renovators and security.
For three years, perhaps longer, the Capitol will remain a most lonely place. No late-breaking gubernatorial news conferences. No lively debates in the legislative chambers. No impactful hearings in the august Supreme Court chambers. No public rallies in the rotunda. No students on field trips.
State government offices in the building are relocating as the Capitol is getting a facelift. The project’s cost is still subject to change. So is the time to get it done. The legislature expects to return to the Capitol in time for the session that convenes in January 2029.
Construction on the massive building in south Frankfort began in 1904. It replaced the earlier 1830 Capitol, still standing in downtown Frankfort. The old Capitol had become too small to accommodate the growing state government.
The price tag for the new state Capitol was $1.82 million. The cost for today’s renovations is expected to be nearly $300 million, maybe higher, but that includes items that were not in the Capitol when it opened in 1910, such as modern heating and cooling systems to provide temperature control throughout the building.
Much of the renovations will address leaky, rusty water pipes; gobs of outdated electrical wiring in the ceilings, heating and cooling systems, and worn terracotta tiles covering the outside of the dome, some of which date back to 1941.
Enough organic material accumulated on the dome that a small tree was found growing from it. The cost of the dome work has topped $16 million.
A roof replacement is planned after the dome restoration is completed. A new roof will cost about $7 million.
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Renovation of the 200 historic windows in the building alone will cost $10.5 million.
The elevator on the north side of the Capitol will be enlarged to comply with guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It will be able to carry a stretcher in a medical emergency. The elevator on the south side will be reviewed.
When renovations are complete, there will be public, accessible women’s and men’s restrooms on both sides of the Capitol on every floor. Currently, there are 18 women’s restroom stalls in the Capitol; after the renovation, there will be 28. Family restrooms will also be added on multiple floors.
Costs also jumped with construction of a temporary building near the Capitol Annex to house the state House and Senate when in session. The temporary quarters cost about $14 million to build.
No plans have yet been made on what to do with the new building once the Capitol is in operation again. It was built to last 10 years.
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said the Capitol was “getting old with a lot of years of wear and tear and needed a lot of work.”
He said the goal of the renovations is to make the Capitol “safer, more energy efficient and comfortable.”
Mike Wynn, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, said the General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene in the Capitol for the 2029 regular session that begins in January of that year.
“The project is on track, but as with any major renovation, the completion date may change as the project moves along,” he added.
The cost also may change, said Finance and Administration Cabinet spokesperson Kinsey Woodson. The total cost now is expected to be $291.5 million, she said, but that may rise with additional work needed.
The last major renovation of the facility was more than 70 years ago. Slightly more than $1.1 million was spent in 2017 to give the Capitol’s facade a thorough cleaning and to start some minor restoration of infrastructure.
Senate President Stivers said he doubts visitors will notice much change when they see the renovated Capitol but “a lot is going on.”
The exodus of state workers from the Capitol was expected to end by mid-July. Moving vans surrounded the Capitol for weeks to haul equipment to new offices.
Donna Farmer, the designated construction project manager for the renovations, said at a recent news briefing that the Capitol is expected to close to the public by the end of August.
She said several public attractions on the Capitol campus will remain open to the public. They include the Floral Clock, floral beds, the COVID-19 memorial monument and the Gold Star Family Monument.
She also noted a new visitors’ center is in the offing.
Gov. Andy Beshear and his staff will move to the Old Governor’s Mansion and State Office Building in downtown Frankfort. Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and her staff are headed to Berry Hill Mansion.
New office spaces for the Supreme Court of Kentucky and the State Law Library with its 20,000 books are now at 669 Chamberlain Avenue. The Circuit Court Clerk Conduct Commission also is at the new location. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in August at the Robert F. Stephens Circuit Courthouse in Lexington.
The attorney general’s office will move its personnel in the Capitol to its second Frankfort office — Capital Complex East on Capital Center Drive. The secretary of state’s office is going to 1025 Capital Center Drive, suite 201 in Frankfort.
Proprietors of media offices, known as “Press Row,” on the second floor of the Capitol have found their own office space or are working from their homes, an arrangement that became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The closing of the Capitol also will mean a new location for the inauguration of the next governor on Dec. 14, 2027.
With much pageantry, a new governor is usually sworn into office on the steps leading to the Capitol’s front entrance. The 2027 inauguration will be held a little lower, on the Capitol’s far north steps near Capital Avenue.
A security fence will be installed surrounding the construction area to ensure the safety of employees and visitors to the Capitol campus. The Capitol’s west and east parking lots will be closed. The Capitol Annex’s east parking lot and parking garage will remain open.
The most public feature of the renovation project is the temporary building for the House and Senate adjacent to the Annex. It’s more practical than pompous. But it won’t be that public.
Neither chamber will have a public gallery like the ones in the Capitol. The Kentucky Educational Television network will continue to air live proceedings in the chambers for public consumption.
The only members of the public allowed in the chambers will be those with special invitations from legislators. There will be several desks for members of the media.
The temporary structure is a one-story, 26,000-square-foot building. It includes space for majority and minority leadership offices, caucus rooms, support staff and emergency personnel. There is a purpose-built media area located in the vestibule of the temporary structure which offers Wi-Fi access and electrical outlets for media to cover floor proceedings.
Offices for legislative leaders in the temporary structure will mirror the prior office allocation in the Capitol. The temporary structure will also provide space for clerks and support staff.
When there is need for a joint House-Senate session, it will assemble in the House, as in the Capitol.
Legislators are next scheduled to meet in January 2026 for a 60-day session to write a two-year budget.
But Gov. Andy Beshear is considering whether to call them back to Frankfort early for a special session to address funding for natural disasters that have wrecked the state.
If there should be a special session, “We are ready,” said Stivers.
The architect for the renovations is EOP. Messer Construction Co. is the construction manager. Both businesses have offices in Lexington and Louisville. The Finance Cabinet said additional information on other contractors will be available upon completion of all bid awards and available through open records requests.
Stivers congratulated Gov. Beshear and former Gov. Matt Bevin for working on the Capitol renovations.
“It is a mammoth project with much planning but I think we are all headed in the right direction on it,” he said. “I know it will be better for the people who work in the Capitol when it is completed.”
It should also please Kentuckians when they can again amble the Capitol’s hallowed halls.
“I hope to bring Audrey back when it reopens,” said dad Deaton. “She will be about 9 then. I think she will enjoy it even more.”
This story originally appeared at kentuckylantern.com.
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