Repairs to Minnesota Capitol building have just begun

ST. PAUL - The golden ball atop Minnesota's Capitol dome is as shiny as anyone alive today has seen it.

It was unveiled last month, 434 feet above the ground, freshly repaired and with new gold leaf covering it. The dome system beneath it, with three domes inside each other, is also renovated.

But below the second-largest self-supporting marble dome in the world, the 107-year-old Capitol building is hurting.

Paint is peeling off the cafeteria ceiling, renovated in 1999 when 22 layers of paint were removed to reveal the original design. Nearby, leaking drains have ruined much of what used to be an ornate judges' dining room. At the base of the dome, water from 1980s-era windows defaced paintings.

The list goes on. Water and time show their effects on the Capitol, inside and out.

"It is not unusual for buildings that have exteriors at the 100-year mark to have to undergo extensive repair work," said Wayne Waslaski of the state Administration Department and a coordinator of a Capitol renovation project.

A dozen other century-old state Capitols, including in Wisconsin and Iowa, have undergone renovation, Waslaski said, with only Minnesota's left.

Fixing the Capitol, which hosts 300,000 visitors a year, is a multiyear project, but how long it takes and how much gets done depends on legislators and governors in coming years.

So far, two major projects have begun. One is removing blocks of marble that could fall off the outside of the Capitol and hurt or kill a visitor below. The biggest chunks have been removed, with work continuing to repair water damage, mostly in the southeast part of the main Capitol entrance. Dome repair is the second project.

A marble dome, for all of its beauty, is lousy roofing material. Water easily leaks through joints, so architect Cass Gilbert designed a three-dome system to provide a drainage system under the marble outside. That drainage system has been updated, and a humidity-control system installed.

Twelve leaky windows at the dome's base are to be replaced this year, costing $1.3 million and completing most of the dome work.

Also happening now is reconstruction of the Capitol's west steps and construction of a new tunnel under University Avenue on the Capitol's north side to improve access, along with upgrading an existing tunnel that carries utility cables.

Next year, a two-year project to replace the Capitol's 241 windows below the dome will begin, and exterior stone repairs will continue.

By Dec. 1, state officials must give Gov. Mark Dayton and state legislators an idea of how much money is needed for next year's work. In the spring, a comprehensive planning effort should produce a document detailing exactly what needs to be fixed, when it should be done and how much it will cost.

Lawmakers have approved more than $60 million for the project, with about $200 million more expected.

Don Davis reports for Forum Communications Co.