SD Capitol Turns 100
Local News
by
Christy Batien
last edited on
Sunday, March 14, 2010
It's one of South Dakota's more recognizable landmarks.
Not Mount Rushmore, but the State Capital in Pierre.
It was built 100 years ago and to mark the building's centennial the state is celebrating.
The beauty of the capitol at sunrise is just unbelievable. That, to many, sets what we are all about.
It's the center of government, and quite possibly the most ornate and intricate building on South Dakota soil. It's for those reasons that thousands flock to the State Capitol in Pierre each year to take in this breath taking building.
"It means a lot because of what it is, but it's also a very beautiful piece of art and history all wrapped in to one," said Mike Mueller of the SD Bureau of Administration.
Construction on the capitol building started in 1905. It took 5 years and $1 million to finish and by today's standards that's a cost of $70 million. At the center of it all is the Rotunda.
"From the floor to the point at the top of that leaded stained glass is 95 feet. There's another 65 feet above that glass to the top of the dome. So it's 161 feet tall to the very tip of the dome on the outside,"
On the floor, a triangle marks the spot for visitors wanting to center themselves for a perfect picture of the detailed dome above. A sight not lost on those sent here to represent the people.
Senator Ben Nesselhuf of Vermillion says, "I shouldn't probably admit to this. My first year I was here on a Saturday; nobody else was here; and I actually lied down on the floor down here and stare at the dome for about 5 minutes."
Over the years, the rotunda and the rest of the capitol have taken on many looks. It started in the 1930s when the great depression left the dirt dry and the capitol building shifting on the ground below. Large cracks filled the walls and the floor, imperfections South Dakotans dealt with through simple paint repairs at a time when money was tight. Several decades later, lawmakers decided it was time restore the structure to it's original state. In 1977 they started a 12 year restoration.
"And that restoration, at a cost of about $3 million, restored the building to its original beauty," said Mueller.
One of the biggest repairs was fixing the hand-laid tile floor that covers all four levels of the capitol building.
Mueller says, "The floor is called terrazzo tiles, and the legend is there were 66 Italian artists who hand-laid all of the tiles in the floor. And each one had a blue signature stone."
Those stones lay hidden in the tiles. Many have looked, but only 55 of the blue tiles have ever been found. But the legend of the tiled floor does not stop there. When the capitol building was restored in to its original design in the 1980s, the workers who fixed the tile floor were given a signature stone of their own; one of two actually. The first, was a heart. This heart is cracked. Legend has it, it was put in by a worker who just had his heart broken. The other signatures during the repairs, are tiles spelling the workers initials.
Representative Dan Lederman said, "I think the most beautiful part of the capitol is actually the fine detail on the ornate designs that you find on the doorknobs, on the hinges," said Rep. Dan Lederman.
And there may be a fine detail you've never noticed before.
Representative Bernie Hunoff said, "The craftsman who came over here, from Italy I believe, who did a good share of the work on this and who built the marble stairway, turned one spindle upside down, just in difference to God. With the idea God is perfect, man is not."
A small signature that makes the South Dakota capitol a one-of-a-kind building. 100 years later it's still a sight of patriotism, and beauty.
"The beauty of the capitol at sunrise is just unbelievable. To me that sets what we are all about," said Senator Jean Hunhoff.