The cost and benefits of a facelift.

• Author: Loyacono, Laura
• Position: Restoration of state capitol buildings

Several states have accepted the dislocations and annoyances involved in renovating their capitol buildings - for dazzling results.

State capitols were originally built as monuments - not just to house legislators and (by today's standards) a modest staff. Now the challenge is to preserve the historic integrity of the buildings while accommodating the needs of a growing and increasingly sophisticated branch of government.

Years of additions and makeshift renovations have drastically altered original building designs and jeopardized their historic integrity. Careless modernizations to add air conditioning, electric lights, sound systems and countless coats of paint often had disastrous consequences. As in Ohio over the years, many legislative leaders added floors, half floors or divided large rooms to add more office space.

When states make the decision to restore their statehouses, the temporary and permanent relocation of legislative offices often becomes a major headache. Political battles have been waged over legislative office space as well as turf battles with executive branch agencies and skirmishes with public opinion over the high cost of construction.

In South Carolina where the General Assembly is in the midst of a three-year, $53 million restoration of the pre-Civil War era Capitol, legislative office space is at a premium. The legislature has set up shop in a nearby state building that used to be a hotel. The former hotel ballrooms now serve as the Senate and House chambers.

When the Capitol reopens for the 1998 legislative session, not everyone will be happy with his or her space. Although individual legislative offices are adequate, the governor, lieutenant governor and legislative council will not have all of the office space they want or need to house growing staffs. And there is very little space for constituents to meet.

"We will be losing between 15,000 and 18,000 square feet of formerly occupied office space due to the restoration. But we are losing it for a good cause," says Senate Clerk Frank Coggiano. Some space went to retrofit the building to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements or for restoration. Most of the lost office space was in the basement, however, where the radon level was discovered to be dangerously high. Now it will be used only for storing equipment and for mechanical purposes.

"What started off as a small project to repair the roof grew into a huge project to save the Capitol," says...