Preservationist: Demonstrators Treating Historic Wisconsin State Capitol with Care and Respect

[highplainsdem]

http://blog.preservationnation.org/2011/03/02/demonstrators-treating-historic-wisconsin-state-capitol-with-care-and-respect/

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This incredibly heavy use raises concerns about the impact of such crowds on the fabric of the building itself. Last Friday night I walked through the building to see the impact thousands of protesters were having. The Wisconsin State Capitol is a typical early-twentieth-century Beaux-Arts state capitol – monumental and cavernous with a soaring rotunda and marble and granite finishes everywhere. It was designed by the New York firm of George B. Post & Sons and completed in 1917. The building is noted for its decorative program, featuring sculptural groupings in each of the four wings, and dome paintings and mosaics by nationally prominent artists. Chambers and caucus rooms feature rich furnishings and hardwood finishes and are decorated with art and antiques from two former capitol buildings on the site. In the late 1990s and early 2000s a full restoration/rehabilitation was completed.

Remarkably, the protesters have adopted an ownership ethic in the building, treating it with the utmost care and respect. Thousands of signs with protest slogans, information, and wayfinding information are taped to the granite and painted walls, without exception, with low adhesion blue painter’s tape. Memorial installations are left completely free of signage. Trash and recycle bins are prevalent, and there is no discarded trash anywhere. Demonstrators organize daily cleaning crews. They are also evangelistic about their respect for the building. Handwritten signs on glass display cases, rest room doors and granite pillars demand care, cleanliness, and respect for the building they call “Our house.” High humidity and salt and dirt residue may add to the cumulative impact on floors and painted surfaces, but any damage to the building is unintended.

Political differences catalyzing the demonstrations are far from resolved and large crowds continue to gather at the building, but demonstrators have shown reverence for the state house as the gathering place of democracy is Wisconsin, and show no signs of resorting to symbolic attacks on it.

[Historic NY]

1. So where did the 7.5 million dollar restoration & tape residue crap come from.

[highplainsdem]

2. Just more outrageous Republican lies.