Out Of The Ordinary

Linda Burton posting from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – There are two out-of-the-ordinary things about the Oklahoma state capitol. No other state capitol once had a working oil well on its front lawn named Petunia. And no other state capitol sat without a dome for 85 years, and then added one. It was designed to have a dome, but budget overruns forced a change of plans. “How can we save money?” became the pressing question; postponing the dome was the most logical answer. When the capitol was officially opened for business June 30, 1917, ten years into statehood, it had an almost flat roof. Inside an inverted bowl-shaped construction decorated with a painted plaster seal did faux-dome duty. Fast forward to 2001. With private donations in the coffer, the time for the doming of the capitol had arrived; workers removed the two million pounds of brick and concrete that made up the old flat roof. Because the original plans called for a dome, the existing building was ready to carry the new five-million-pound construction; it was completed in 2002. Outside, it looks the way it was always meant to look. Inside, everything above a narrow purple ring is new construction, offering a visually stunning upward-sweeping view to a state seal now surrounded by shimmering glass. Beautiful! Now, about that oil well named Petunia. » read more