A revival in Columbus.

• Author: Loyacono, Laura
• Position: Restoring Ohio Capitol

The newly restored Ohio Capitol preserves the best of the original 1861 building and still offers the most modern of conveniences.

It could have been 1861 again in the Ohio House of Representatives.

The Greek Revival-style State House stood as a fine architectural monument to American democracy, the harbinger of the standard in capitol design - two balanced chambers, porticoes and an ornate rotunda.

In the House chambers, citizens crowded behind the richly engraved white marble balustrade to catch a glimpse as the speaker presided over a joint session of the legislature - just as they had 136 years ago when people came to the newly constructed State House to see Abraham Lincoln as he stopped in Columbus on his way to Washington, D.C., to be sworn in as president of the United States.

But something very different marked this occasion last July from that one so long ago. Today, a woman presides over the House where once all women were barred from entering, even as spectators.

As Speaker Jo Ann Davidson stood to address a joint session at the re-opening of the painstakingly restored House chamber, she was acutely aware of her place in history:

"It was in this House chamber that Lincoln addressed the legislature. As historic as that occasion was and as honored as I am to be standing where Abraham Lincoln stood when he delivered his address, I can't help but mention the House calendar earlier that day, particularly the floor debate the morning before Mr. Lincoln arrived.

"The debate among House members was about whether women should be permitted into the chamber to hear Mr. Lincoln's speech. The concern was whether they could bear up to 'the rigors of such public discussion.'"

The motion to allow women in the chambers passed that day, although not by a unanimous vote. At the 1996 celebration, Davidson reflected upon the symbolic journey that the State House and the House of Representatives have taken in their roles as "the people's house."

THE RESTORATION

Last July, the newly refurbished Capitol opened to the public after a seven-year, $112 million endeavor involving the original 1861 State House and the 1901 Supreme Court building, converted to a Senate annex. An atrium connecting the two structures has been added to provide a space for public events and a covered passage between the two buildings.

When the Ohio State House was completed in 1861, it boasted 53 stately rooms on three floors. By 1988, it contained 317 rooms and as many as nine floors (or "rabbit dens" as one legislative leader put it). There were no fire sprinkler systems, the electrical system could not keep up with the demands of modern office equipment, wiring was left exposed, asbestos was present throughout the building, and the roof leaked.

Ohioans could boast of the nation's finest example of Greek Revival architecture, but it was in sorry condition. And legislators realized that their Capitol was falling down around them.

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