Capitol Ideas: State Capitol Building still awes sightseers

DES MOINES - More than 130 years after its dedication, the Iowa State Capitol Building still has that wow factor.

When the Legislature is in full swing, it may seem hard to believe but the distractions of the issues of the day can cause one to turn a dull eye to the ornate and stately surroundings of a structure that is truly an artistic masterpiece.

It's a worthwhile exercise every once in awhile to step back and take in the majesty and beauty of a building constructed in the 1870s at a cost of $2.8 million, and to marvel at craftsmanship, the artwork, the massive marble columns, the woodcarvings, the artifacts, and the decorative wall and ceiling painting and stenciling that grace the seat of state government.

The building elicits different responses from different people, but Capitol tour guide supervisor Joni Arnett said she never tires of seeing the looks on children's faces when they walk up to the first floor and stand with their eyes wide and their mouths open in wild wonder.

'They're just amazed by the building,” she said. 'It keeps me fresh.”

Irish visitors catching their first glimpse of the Capitol building and its 23-karat gold-covered dome rising 275 feet into the Iowa sky last year remarked that they thought they were seeing the Taj Mahal, when their vehicle veered west around a bend on the I-235 MacVicar Freeway heading into downtown Des Moines.

An easterner taking in the sights of the Capitol's second-floor rotunda, like someone surveying a scene from a bygone era, pointed with amazement at an overflow stack of winter coats that lobbyists had piled on a metal rack under the massive Westward mosaic panels, saying, 'You could never do that in New York” and expect your coat to still be there at the end of the day.

'The wow factor for me is that we're still using it,” said Arnett, who has been handling tours for nearly 40 years in a building that draws about 65,000 sightseers annually.

'For many states, their capitols are museums and they've moved on. They're in high-rises across the street. We're still using this building for the purpose that we built it, which I think is kind of amazing 130 years later.”

Surprisingly, the Capitol is actually a brick building that is faced with limestone, granite and sandstone on its exterior which is lighted at night. It houses the Iowa Legislature, the governor's and lieutenant governor's formal and informal offices, the state treasurer, state auditor and secretary of state offices, the old Iowa Supreme Court chambers, and the State Library of Iowa's law library with it circular staircases of iron grillwork that has formed a striking backdrop for network television coverage of past Iowa precinct caucuses.

The building underwent a $42 million face-lift that spanned nearly two decades and culminated with workers replacing the glass floor in the first-floor rotunda. During that work, the gold leaf on the exterior dome was regilded for the fifth time in the building's storied history at a cost of $482,000 - all but $160,000 that went for labor.

The gold dome - one of 10 state capitols that have one nationwide - always is of interest to visitors.

The most asked question that Capitol tour guides get?

'Where are the restrooms, hands down,” Arnett said.

Next in line - how do they change the light bulbs in the interior dome? From behind in the building's attic, Arnett relies. 'It's much easier than it looks.”

For visitors to the Capitol, there is a self-guided audio tour via cellphone. It's worth a listen.