The State Capitol of Idaho will be receiving a major renovation over the next couple of months on the entire rotunda on every floor. The building will be closed off as a six-story high scaffolding is built into the site to allow delaminating glass in the highest reaches of the Capitol’s dome to be replaced. The construction work will additionally affect the “garden level” and the basement where heavy reinforcements have been installed from ceiling to floor to support the first floor so it can take the weight of the scaffolding and an industrial materials hoist.
Also Read: Idaho State University begins construction of alumni center
The delamination that’s already occurred is visible as strange circular shapes that have appeared on some of the glass panels in the building’s mound. However, that is not the main concern. The biggest concern is whether the glass panels were to have a complication, they could fall out and crash all the way down through the Capitol vicinity. In the process of investigating the problem and planning for the solution, the contractors discovered that additional panels replaced even before the big Capitol renovation also were having the same problem. Those, too, will now be replaced. The design of the iconic state building is heavily reliant on natural illumination, and how it filters into the building through light shafts and skylights. That’s led to the nickname the “Capitol of Light,” that the famous building was given.
A temporary wall will be constructed around the rotunda to allow the entire building to remain open through the construction and enable safe access for people in the area on all sides of it. Some areas, with skylights adjacent to the rotunda and the Statuary Hall on the fourth floor of the Idaho Capitol and other areas, will have temporary closures as part of the work.
