{"id":11580,"date":"2013-08-07T22:00:35","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T02:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=11580"},"modified":"2024-12-03T17:08:57","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T22:08:57","slug":"reach-for-the-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=11580","title":{"rendered":"Reach For The Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"07<\/a>Linda Burton posting from Lansing, Michigan <\/i>\u2013 The catalpa tree was already there when architect Elijah Meyers came to build a capitol. \u201cWe figure it\u2019s more than 140 years old,\u201d the groundskeepers told me. Construction on the third Michigan state capitol began in the summer of 1872; the catalpa would have grown as the capitol grew. From the day of the capitol\u2019s dedication on January 1, 1879 until today, when I came for a visit, the catalpa has stood just to the left of the front sidewalk, watching over everything. It is well over a hundred feet tall and 85 feet across \"07<\/a>its crown, one of the biggest of its kind in the country. It is fenced for its protection, and steel posts now support two of its extensive limbs; its 20-foot trunk is split, from earliest days, it appears. But it is wearing its age well and each year produces a hearty crop of long thin seed-filled pods, which the groundskeepers collect and give to the Michigan State University arborists for \u201cstarting.\u201d Plantings are shared with the community; you might find this catalpa\u2019s babies all over Lansing. \u201cAll trees that grow from this tree\u2019s seed split too,\u201d I was \"07<\/a>told, as I was handed a seed pod to keep for my own treasure. I tucked it into my backpack and headed on towards the capitol entrance. No steps and no mystery; a clearly marked ground-floor entrance led me directly to the Visitor Information desk, where Matt VanAcker welcomed me and gave me information about the capitol. \u201cA few days ago, there were no desks or chairs in the chambers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are just getting back in order after some major renovation.\u201d I headed for the first floor rotunda, where the tour was already underway, booklet of facts in hand.<\/p>\n

\"07<\/a>I planned to look up into the dome right away, but the floor caught my attention first. It is glass; in fact there are 976 pieces of glass set in a circular pattern around the 44-foot-diameter rotunda, each about five-eighths of an inch thick. I can\u2019t say I felt the illusion of spinning, but it did feel like floating; and according to my booklet, from the balcony above it would appear that the center of the floor sinks to form a bowl. It was perfectly flat and walkable however; I made a note to look down when I got to the balcony. Over 160 flags encased in glass circled the room; they are replicas of the originals, which are now being preserved in the Michigan Historical Museum and represent the historic battle flags carried by Michigan regiments during the Civil War. One, carried by the First Michigan Sharpshooters, was the first Union flag raised over Petersburg, signaling that the war was almost over. More than 90,000 Michigan volunteers served in the war, which was more than half the military-age males in the state at the time.<\/p>\n

\"07<\/a>I finally walked to the middle of the glass floor and centered my feet securely to look up 160 feet to the top of the inner dome. And I saw stars. Dark blue sky, and golden stars. I\u2019m going to quote from the capitol booklet now, because I can\u2019t think of a better way to describe it:\u00a0\u00a0 The rotunda was designed with one purpose in mind –\u00a0to awe and inspire. As you gaze into the starry sky above, you feel that the endless possibilities it represents are just within your grasp. The muses are there, offering their assistance and guidance, while encouraging us to \u201creach for our stars.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\"07<\/a>Aweing and inspiring are worthy goals, I say, and I confess to feeling a little of both as I got more and more pictures of the beautiful space. Just below the eye of the dome \u2013 the oculus \u2013 were eight paintings; according to my booklet they were created by Italian artist Tommaso Juglaris in 1886 while he lived in Boston. He did the work on canvas, which was then glued to the inner dome. The paintings also are intended to inspire; drawn from Greek and Roman mythology, they represent art, agriculture, law, science, justice, industry, commerce, and education. Below the paintings of the muses are elaborately hand-painted designs; I read that the building contains over nine acres of hand-painted surfaces.<\/p>\n

\"07<\/a>As I began walking the halls, I noticed that a well-coordinated color scheme of satisfying blues, and mauves, carried throughout the building, set off by classic checkerboard black and white tiled floors. The white tiles are an inexpensive marble from Vermont; the black tiles are limestone, also from Vermont; if you look closely you\u2019ll see fossils of marine snails and other marine animals. The family just ahead of me had divided loyalties; the son was looking at the floor, searching for fossils; his sister was looking up at the chandeliers, and sometimes bumping into walls as she walked along, busy with her camera phone. The chandeliers are unique; there are 20 in the building that feature an elk and shield design like that on the Michigan coat of arms. Initially they were gas; now of course they are lit by lightbulbs. The family stopped for a pose by the clock near the elevator. It is a \u201clong drop\u201d clock, and has hung in its present location since 1886, still keeping excellent time. It once functioned as a master clock, driving a number of other clocks throughout the capitol.<\/p>\n

\"07<\/a>On the second floor the House Chamber was in order and the door was open for a peep inside. Michigan has 110 representatives, so this is the larger chamber. It is a stunning room; the pink-rose mauve color is prominent here; behind the Speaker\u2019s chair is a magnificent version of Michigan\u2019s coat of arms. The elk on the left and the moose on the right flank the American eagle; the Latin words \u201cE pluribus unum\u201d are above. The Latin words below are Michigan\u2019s motto, translated they mean \u201cIf you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"07<\/a>I left the north wing and circled the balcony to the Senate chamber in the south wing; workers here had not quite finished getting things back into place after the new carpet was installed, but that didn\u2019t hinder the view. I think the word \u201chandsome\u201d describes this room, where Michigan\u2019s 38 Senators meet. Here the primary color is blue; hand-painted designs circle the lower portion of the room, and the gallery above; natural light streams in through ruby-and-white etched glass panels in the coffered ceiling; the panels feature the coats of arms of all 50 states . Over the Senate President\u2019s chair is the coat of arms of the United States, a federal eagle in gilded plaster. \u201cDo they vote by roll call?\u201d I asked; \u201cNo,\u201d was the answer, as I was directed to look at the panels on either side of the room. The electronic voting boards blend perfectly with the blue color scheme; invisible until turned on during session.<\/p>\n

\"07<\/a>I caught up with the tour just in time to catch a glimpse of the Governor\u2019s Reception Room; we weren\u2019t allowed to walk in, but we could see the original furnishings; many items were made in 1876 by Feige Brothers Company of Saginaw. Black and white pictures of Michigan governors line the walls, including a picture of Charles Croswell, the first governor to serve in the new capitol, and to use this room. Back out to the central balcony for that promised look down; I agree, it does \"07<\/a>appear as though the middle is sunken (but I assure you it is not).<\/p>\n

I thumbed back through my booklet to make sure I didn\u2019t miss anything; I read more about architect Elijah Myers (1832-1909) and learned this was his first capitol design \u2013 he went on to design the Texas and Colorado state capitols and other large government buildings in following years. Myers was chosen from a nationwide search; his design was named \u201cTuebor,\u201d meaning, \u201cI will defend.\u201d He was given a budget of $1.2 million to work with, so many cost-saving decisions were made throughout construction. No preference was given to Michigan materials; rather, the best materials were selected for the best price. The final cost was $1,427.738.78 and the building contains stone from Ohio, cast iron from Pennsylvania, marble from Vermont, and tin \"07<\/a>from Wales. Most of the millions of bricks used for walls and ceilings were made in Lansing. Although Myers designed a building with \u201cVictorian elegance,\u201d he came up with ways to provide awe-inspiring beauty at an economical cost, while making it enormously strong and virtually fireproof as well. The marble columns you see throughout the building are not marble at all; the columns are cast iron, painted to look like marble. The capitol\u2019s doors, doorframes, window frames, and wainscoting all appear to be walnut, but almost none of it is. It is inexpensive Michigan pine carefully hand-painted to mimic costly walnut using a technique called \u201cwood graining.\u201d The massive walls, ceilings and floors are solid brick; the distinctive dome is cast iron; all built to last.<\/p>\n

\"07<\/a>I was thinking about the capitol’s star-studded awe-inspiring inner dome as I walked past the catalpa tree again on the way to my car. A simple idea, really, just reach for the stars and keep on growing.<\/p>\n

Michigan State Capitol, 100 N Capitol Avenue, open Monday-Friday, tours available 517-373-2348, http:\/\/council.legislature.mi.gov\/lcfa\/capitol-tours.html<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Lansing, Michigan \u2013 The catalpa tree was already there when architect Elijah Meyers came to build a capitol. \u201cWe figure it\u2019s more than 140 years old,\u201d the groundskeepers told me. Construction on the third Michigan state capitol began in the summer of 1872; the catalpa would have grown as the capitol […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4587,1729],"tags":[2581,3091,2582,2546,677],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11580"}],"version-history":[{"count":51,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15555,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11580\/revisions\/15555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}