Adding Up The Cost Of Capitol Renovations
Cost of Oklahoma state Capitol renovations raises questions
Legislators return Monday to the state Capitol for the 2014 legislative session. More than $5 million in interior renovations were completed while the Legislature was out of session.
By Randy Ellis
Ugly yellow barriers and even uglier plywood-covered scaffolding will welcome lawmakers Monday when they return to the state Capitol for the start of the 2014 legislative session.
Their reward for passing the obstacles will be the pleasure of conducting the state’s business in some attractive new legislative conference rooms and offices — courtesy of about $5.2 million in taxpayer-funded interior renovations completed while the Legislature was out of session.
The Capitol’s unsightly exterior barriers and striking interior renovations — which are particularly regal on the Senate side — present lawmakers with some public perception challenges.
The yellow barriers — erected to protect the public from chunks of limestone and mortar falling from the crumbling exterior of the nearly century-old state Capitol — serve as stark reminders of failed legislation and work left unfinished.