The State Capitol is undergoing a thorough exterior refurbishment.
This is actually the third phase in a four-phase project to rehabilitate the 93-year-old structure.
Architect Matt Baker, the Assistant Director of Facility Planning and Control, says during the initial planning phase, they found that the project was going to be more involved than initially thought.
“The water was getting into the building (and was) starting to natively affect some steel elements of the building,” says Baker.
At some point in the 1950s or the 1960s, the stone blocks were sandblasted.
That was believed to be the best cleaning method at the time; the problem was, those freshly sandblasted blocks grabbed all the particulates in the air from all the plants north of Baton Rouge.
So now, the blocks will be cleaned through rehoning.
“We’re cleaning all of those stones and then getting them back to essentially a factory finish with the rehoning so that they can more effectively shed those contaminants,” says Baker.
Baker says the building will be waterproofed and will be cleaned very thoroughly.
“We’re cleaning all of the stone decorative elements and sculptures,” Baker says. “We’re cleaning all the decorative bronze and decorative aluminum elements on the exterior of the building. We’re replacing all the glass, and we’re installing solar film on that for energy efficiency.”
In all, the third phase will be completed by the middle of 2030 at a total cost of $100 million.
This year, the legislature allocated $31.7 million towards the project, so it will have to come up with additional money in subsequent years to see this phase to the finish line.
After the third phase is completed, Baker says they can turn their attention to the fourth and final phase.
“We’re addressing the steps, the south faces of the chambers, the plaza over the house conference room, things of that nature,” says Baker.
