Want to take home a piece of the Capitol?
LANSING — Michiganders will have a chance to take home a physical piece of their state history after the Michigan State Capitol Commission decided to sell pieces of the iconic Capitol dome that are being replaced.
Commissioners decided Tuesday that about 100 ornamental modillions from the original 19th Century construction of the statehouse will be made available to the public. Hundreds of the decorative sandstone pieces are being replaced as part of a $6.5 million restoration of the dome and exterior, and officials from general contractor The Christman Co. told commissioners Tuesday at least 100 of the 136-year-old pieces still have recognizable ornamental designs.
“Even deteriorated, there will be interest” in the modillions, said Commissioner Kerry Chartkoff, the Capitol historian emeritus. She said officials sold materials after the last major statehouse restoration in 1992, and even items that seemed worthless were popular buys.
On the suggestion of Commission Chairman Gary Randall, who said he’d “hate to price these out of the range of Joe and Jane, the average person,” the commission will make 50 modillions available for $100 in a lottery. The other 50 will be auctioned off, with a $100 minimum bid.
Money raised will go into the commission’s general fund for Capitol maintenance, officials said. A date and method for the sale still has to be finalized, officials said. The restoration is expected to wrap up in November.
While making those pieces of the Capitol available to the public, the commission decided to close off another piece: Based on the advice of the firm Quinn Evans Architects and commissioners’ own concerns about safety and potential damage to the building, the commission voted Tuesday to prohibit tours of the dome. The commission can still grant exceptions.
Commissioner Jeff Cobb, calling dome tours a unique attraction, voted against.
But Chartkoff told commissioners they’d bring something else back to the public.
With the current restoration work coming in under budget, the commission will be able to install decorative lightposts on the east lawn, near the head of East Michigan Avenue. A pair of cast-iron gas lightposts existed there — on either side of the main walk from Capitol Avenue up to the main steps — until electricity was installed at the statehouse near the turn of the last century, Chartkoff said.
The Capitol is a National Historic Landmark, and was the first of three statehouses designed by famed architect Elijah Myers, whose work in Lansing set the standard for government buildings nationwide.
Contact Justin A. Hinkley at (517) 377-1195 orjhinkley@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter@JustinHinkley.
In other business
The Michigan State Capitol Commission on Tuesday also:
• Approved updates to commission policies on use of the Capitol facilities, including an increase in allowed size of displays from 3-feet-by-3-feet-by-3-feet to 4-feet-by-4-feet-by-4-feet, the incorporation of a drone ban approved earlier by the commission, and a requirement for organizers of events inside the building to pay damage deposits or carry insurance.
• Approved an $8.6 million 2015-16 budget that includes salary increases for Capitol staff and spending on conservation of historic portraits, mechanical engineering to examine Capitol climate control problems, ceiling work and decorative painting. The 2016 budget includes $4.1 million appropriated from the state general fund, $3.1 million from a special Capitol maintenance fund, $1.2 million carried over from the current budget, plus other miscellaneous revenue.
• Gave official approval to the Lansing’s Silver Bells in the City holiday event and to the erection of the official state Christmas tree