Committee looks behind the Capitol plywood

What is now a big mess will in time become the shiny seat of state government.

Much of the State Capitol is now off limits to legislators and the public, but the House State Government Finance Committee got a behind-the-scenes look Tuesday at what is happening beyond the plywood.

[Slideshow: View an image gallery from the committee's tour]

Trekking through dirt and dust-covered floors and navigating their way around wooden beams, basement to ceiling shafts, plastic sheeting where walls once stood and under skylights formerly blocked by false ceilings, committee members and staff saw progress on what Administration Commissioner Matt Massman calls a “once in a 100-year event.”

Wayne Waslaski, a senior director with the department, said the goal of the $273 million project — which includes addressing crumbling exterior marble and stone and updating the building’s mechanical, electric and plumbing systems — is to reopen the building in time for the 2017 legislative session with final completion scheduled for that summer.

The Cass-Gilbert-designed building opened in 1905, and Waslaski said one goal is to have the Capitol be as open to the public as it was more than a century ago. Among the additions are classroom space for the Minnesota Historical Society, more permanent seating areas and bathrooms for both sexes on each floor.

“We want to keep the building as original as possible, but meet current code standards,” Waslaski said.

To learn more about the Capitol Restoration, check out the Department of Administration website.