Kentucky's State Capitols: Kentucky's Current Capitol Building (1910)
By the turn of the century, it was evident to Kentucky government officials that a new capitol building was needed. The government had grown and room for new offices was rare.
Money for the building was obtained from the federal government. Kentucky, which never left the Union, filed for reparations relating to damages caused by Union soldiers stationed in the state during the Civil War. Also, Kentucky filed for past due compensation for services rendered during the Spanish-American War. The state was able to command over $1,000,000 in filed claims. The state, in a rare period of budget surplus, supplemented the amount with close to another $1,000,000.00. The state contracted Ohio architect Frank Andrews, and the work of the newly appointed Capitol Building Commission began.
In 1905, a special session of the Legislature appropriated $40,000 to purchase land in south Frankfort for a new capitol. The government had attempted, in 1870, to build a new capitol on the east side of the existing "Old Capitol," but funding had run out. It was determined that the remaining acreage of land surrounding the "Old Capitol" was not large enough for another building. Thirty acres across the river from the "Old Capitol" was chosen, composed of the "Hunt place," vacant lots and the homes of John W. Rodman, Frank Chinn, John C. Noel, Mary Johnson, Jane Buttimer, and Sally Handy. These were located at the end of Shelby, Main (now Capital Ave.) and Logan Streets.
On June 16, 1906, 20,000 Kentuckians viewed the cornerstone of the new edifice being laid by Governor J.C.W. Beckham.
Architect Andrews design was reminiscent of the massive buildings and palaces found in France. The exterior of the building boasts four porticos created by seventy Ionic columns, each weighing approximately eighteen tons, being 27' 10" high. The pediment, designed by C.H. Niehous and sculpted by Austrian P. Rossak and costing $40,000.00, depicts Lady Kentucky surrounded by "Progress," "Plenty," "Art," and "Agriculture." Materials used for the building include limestone from Bedford, Indiana and Vermont granite.
Thirty-six granite columns, 26 feet tall and weighing 10 tons a piece, adorn the capitol's nave. Marble stairways, banisters, and balustrades at either end imitate the staircases of the Grand Opera House in Paris. Walls and staircases are white Georgia marble; the floors of light Tennessee marble and black Italian marble. The official State Reception Room was patterned after Marie Antoinette's drawing room in the Grand Trianon Palace at Versailles. The walls are painted to duplicate the tapestries in the French palace. Also, mirrors flanking either end of the room reflect the ceiling chandeliers, creating a "Hall-of-Mirrors" effect, a well-known feature of Versailles. The capitol rotunda, which is topped by a massive 190' dome is copied from the one over Napoleon's tomb in the Hotel des Invalides in Paris.
Beneath the dome in the rotunda, stands a larger than life-size statue of Abraham Lincoln, towering 14' tall, surrounded by sculptures of Jefferson Davis, Henry Clay, Alben Barkley and Dr. Ephraim McDowell. (Tradition holds that rubbing the boot of the Lincoln statue will bring a visitor luck.) Lunettes of the nave are decorated with oil paintings: the east mural depicts Daniel Boone and his men seeing the Bluegrass for the first time from a Pilot Knob in Powell County; the west mural shows Boone and the Transylvania Co. negotiating with the Cherokee Indians for the land known as "Kentucky."
In 1955, the Capitol was renovated at a cost of $2,500,000.00 and rededicated. The wiring, adequate in 1910 but inadequate as government workers relied more and more on electronic office equipment, was ripped out and new facilities were installed. Also installed were new plumbing, heating, and - unheard of in the early 1900's - air conditioning.
In 1996, the exterior of the Capitol was repaired with $1,800,000.00 allocated by Governor Paul Patton. Cracks in the structure at the top of the Capitol dome, also called the lantern, caused water to seep beneath the terra cotta tiles covering the steal beams that support the weight. Tiles covering the dome were replaced or repaired.
Also repaired were the art glass skylights in the Great Hall, which were buckling in their lead frames due to water damage and lack of support. Over the years, make-shift solutions to the problems only caused more damage: metal rods supporting the windows were improperly replaced or left unconnected. Pieces of glass were replaced and the windows were cleaned, then the metal supports were repaired or replaced. The renovation cost $400,000.00.