PICTORIAL TRIBUTE INSIDE SOUVENIR SECTION Wisconsin State Journal TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11,2001 MADISON, WISCONSIN WWW.MADISON.COM Josepjosepnh Ww. JacksojacKson Ill/WSIM/V J In the dome's oculus, or eye, rings of gold-painted flourishes and daylight from 20 windows surround the mural "Resources of Wisconsin" by Edwin Blashfield.The tile mosaics were created bv Kenyon Cox and depict Justice, top, and Government, bottom. During its cleaning and restoration, scaffolding filled the rotunda so workers could reach the dome. TOP the Isthmus' a property's value. historic designs that make it worthy of highest point, the This month, with the completion of its new place as a National Historic state Capitol constantly its $141 million, 11-year restoration, Landmark. beckons to those the Capitol's interior is restored to its What will be less apparent is that it is viewing it in Madison original grandeur and its Bethel granite as technologically advanced as the and from surrounding exterior is as white as it was the day it brand new State Justice Center a block Ahilltops. was finished. away. It is ubiquitous with Madison, and a Those walking through its doors will view of its noble dome will often boost appreciate architect George B. Post's — LisaSchuetz 2 • Tuesday, September 11, 2001 CAPITOL SHINES AGAIN Wisconsin State Journal Wisconsin Historical Society uct l on the c to1 des ned 40^V. i?il ,J ?P! ' '9 by New York architect George B. Post, began in 1906 and was completed in 1917. It replaced Madison's second Capitol, which had been damaqed bv a 1904 fire. The old Capitol was demolished one wing at a time, starting with the fire-damaged West Wing. A new wing was built in its place so government functions would be disrupted as little as possible. The North Wing of the old Capitol is shown at right. State's jewel rises anew More than 20 years after the first words of Capitol restoration were uttered, the long-anticipated and painstaking project is completed, and it is being celebrated as the building joins the list of National Historic Landmarks. By Lisa Schuetz chitectural integrity while mak- Wisconsin State Journal ing way for modern technology, such as computers, air condi- Capitol facts ix years ago, with the law tioning and improved electricity. on her side, a Middleton in- 4 Capitol architect George Browne Post of terior designer started This week, more than 20 years New York died in November 1913 at age 76 S after the first whispers of a Capi- before the building was completed. His working as the state's bounty tol restoration echoed in its mar- sons, William S. Post and James 0. Post, hunter. ble and granite halls, the efforts supervised the building's last four years of Diane Al Shihabi's quarry: the of those involved will be un- construction. Capitol's original furniture. veiled in a celebration today . It 4 The Capitol's stone — marble and Armed with original drawings granite — was obtained from Missouri, and a legislative mandate, Al Shi- will also mark the Capitol's new Tennessee, Vermont, New York, Illinois, habi poked through antique status as a National Historic Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as France, Landmark. Thirty other Wiscon- Italy, Greece, Germany and Algeria. The malls, estate sales and the bow- sin sites are on the list, including most common stone on the interior is els of 23 state buildings. Kasota stone quarried in south-central Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin in Minnesota. The exterior is White Bethel She was looking Spring Green. granite quarried in Vermont. for the furnishings Our state Capitol is Our state Capitol is one of the 4 The tip of the Capitol dome is 184 feet, 3 architect George most architecturally significant inches from the ground, not including the one of the most Browne Post had in the country, and is considered gold-leafed statute of "Wisconsin" atop the designed and ear- Post's finest work, even above dome. architecturally marked for spe- his New York Stock Exchange • The statue atop the Capitol's dome is cific rooms in the called "Wisconsin," not "Forward" as many significant in the building in Manhattan. people think. It was sculpted by Capitol. Over the Post, a New Yorker, was hired New-Englander Daniel Chester French, country, and is years, furniture in 1906 after his design won a whose most famous work is the seated has been sold, Joseph W. Jackson Ill/WSJ competition to replace the sec- Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in considered George Washington. 1 sneaked or moved The Assembly Chamber furniture was ond Capitol damaged in a 1904 Browne Post s finest out. moved out through a window and low- fire. • World War I impacted the Capitol's ered to the ground with a crane on "Post's design is not only construction in many ways, including work, even above his "It was a huge March 8,1993, so the pieces could be slowed ironwork production, early task," she said. "It restored by Carley Wood Associates beautiful, but a premier example shipment of European marbles, and New York Stock took me a long and the Lost Finish. of trends in monumental gov- threatened long-term contracts due to time to under- ernment architecture at the turn wartime inflation. The most visible effect is Exchange building in of the century," said architec- that proposed exterior bronze and granite stand what was throughout the 11-year, $141 statues, which would have stood on Manhattan. ordered (by Post), tural historian Anne Biebel, co- stairway posts, were never completed. million restoration of Wiscon- owner of Isthmus Architecture. what was sin's Capitol. • Apart from the Supreme Court law canceled and what actually was In the 19th century, American murals, the only national event depicted in received." Wing by wing, room by room architects such as Richard Morris the allegorical murals around the interior Besides unearthing the fur- and layer by layer, a troop of Hunt were heavily influenced by of the Capitol is the opening of the Panama the Renaissance Revival styles es- Canal, which occurred in 1914. The nishings that were original to the craftspeople removed paint, par- three-panel mural, painted by Kenyon Cox building, Al Shihabi designed titions, acoustic ceilings, fluores- poused by the Ecole de Beaux and called "The marriage of the Atlantic new furniture, relying heavily on cent lighting, inexpensive Arts, an architecture school in and the Pacific," is in the Senate Chamber the Arts and Crafts style of Post's carpeting, staples, nails and bro- Paris. It's evident that Post, who above the dais. designs to meet today's ergo- ken stone and returned the Capi- started his career at Hunt's studio, ^ Albert Herter, who painted the mural in nomic requirements as well as tol to its original magnificence. created the classically detailed the Supreme Court, was Post's second Capitol in the American adapta- choice for the job. Painter Francis Millet historical appropriateness. In contrast to earlier haphaz- tion of Beaux-Aits tradition. went down with the Titanic before Al Shihabi and thousands of ard remodeling, this time those beginning work. others took painstaking care in charge strove to balance ar- Please see CAPITOL, Page 3 Honored to be trusted <'-BU- as the exclusive ONN' YOUT historic State Capitol has been meticulously restored to its original glory. Visit soon! We think you will agree - the results are breathtaking! Flooring, Inc. We are grateful to JP Cullen & Sons, Inc., for the honor and privilege of N Wall To Wall Style S serving on their State Capitol restoration team. We also wish to thank carpeting contractor our many Klein-Dickert employees, whose skills, talents and patience to the entire Capitol 7550 Qraber Rd. are so evident in the extraor- dinary work they did on this Middleton, WI 53562 PAINT CONTRACTING challenging project. renovation project. It was a labor of love. 608-836-8833 Klein-Dickert Since 1919 And it shows. Wisconsin State Journal CAPITOL SHINES AGAIN Tuesday, September 11, 2001 • 3 Capitol Capitol tours Free tours of the Capitol are Continued from Page 2 offered daily. Tours depart from the ground floor Information The interior, which he de- Desk on Mondays through signed down to tlie switch Saturdays at 9, 10 and 11 a.m., plates, is also representative of and 1, 2 and 3 p.m.; and Sundays the times. Post, still influenced at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. A 4 p.m. tour is by Hunt, created its furnishings offered Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Tours last in the Aits and Crafts style typi- about 45 to 55 minutes. The sixth fied by the use of a variety of floor museum and observation woods, intricately crafted met- deck is also open during the alwork and walls painted with summer months. colors derived from nature. He Groups of 10 or more should also hired nationally renowned make a reservation by calling call artists to create the classical (608) 266-0382 or going online at sculptures, paintings and mosa- www. wisconsin.gov/state/ ics, most of which relate to Wis- core/wisconsin_state_capitol_ consin's history. tour.html. The blend of classical archi- Guide books are available at the tecture and interior craftsman- Information Desk for $3. ship are particularly significant for that time in history, Biebel said. By the early part of the vocal proponent of remaining 20th Century, the Ecole's influ- true to Post's vision during res- ence was waning in favor of toration. modern architecture pioneered "I've lived all my life in the by Louis Sullivan, Wright and shadow of the Capitol.