Construction of The Original Building
Tourtellotte and Hummel used four different types of marble from various locations: red marble from Georgia, gray marble from Alaska, green marble from Vermont, and black marble from Italy. The architectural inspirations for the capitol’s design were Roman based, and a few examples are St. Peter’s in Rome, St. Paul's in London, and the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The most distinguishable feature to the capitol building is the dome. On top of this dome is a bronze eagle, 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 m) high. The capitol building is 208 feet (63 m) high and takes up a total of 201,720 square feet (18,740 m2), and there is over 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of artistically carved marble. There are 219 pillars on the original building which were either Doric, Corinthian, or Ionic columns, and each pillar is made up of marble dust, plaster and scagliola. Scagliola is a mixture of granite, marble dust, gypsum and glue, and then dyed to look like marble. This mixture was created by a family of artisans from Italy.
On the first floor of the capitol building, when looking upward to the dome, thirteen large stars and forty-three smaller stars can be seen. The thirteen large stars represent the thirteen original colonies and the forty three smaller stars indicate that Idaho was the forty third state to enter the union. When looking down at the floor, a compass rose can be seen. In its center is a sundial that has minerals that are found in Idaho. Also on the first floor is a statue called “the Patriot.” It was made by Kenneth Lonn for those who worked in the mining industry.
On the second floor there are three separate entrances; from the east, the south and the west. The lieutenant governor’s office is located in the west wing, just opposite the governor’s office. On the north side of the second floor rotunda is the statue of George Washington astride a horse. And to the rear of the George Washington statue is the attorney general’s suite of offices. The offices were used by the Idaho Supreme Court until the new Supreme Court building was constructed in 1970. In the east wing is the office of the secretary of state and in the reception area is the official copy of the Great Seal of the State of Idaho.
On the third floor is where the legislative chambers are located as well as the Senate in the west wing and the House of Representatives in the east wing. The two chambers on the third floor were remodeled in 1968. Also on this floor is the Idaho Supreme Court room which is used for hearings and committee meetings of the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee.
And lastly on the fourth floor are balcony entrances to the senate and house chambers. The balcony entrances are there so that the public can watch the legislature while it is in session. On this floor there are many historic paintings that the public can see as well as three murals by Dana Boussard. They hang in the northeast, northwest and southwest corners of this floor and the mural symbolizes the state’s diversity and unity.
Read more about this topic: Idaho State Capitol
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