Capitol Dome damage is so bad, 'We're going to lose it,' warns senator

Washington Examiner ^ | April 16, 2014 | Paul Bedard

[Lizavetta]

“They bought their tickets ...... they knew what they were getting into.”

[Covenantor]

A four-foot tall "baby" on the House side of the U.S. Capitol shows the years of damage a restoration hopes to erase. Photo from Architect of the Capito

My first gripe is the low resolution photo of the sculpture as issued by the Architect of the Capitol. While it might be the fault of the Examiner, the cynic in me suspects that the Architect of the Capitol released it as shown to obfuscate and exaggerate the true extent of the damage.

Secondly, one would expect the Architect of the Capitol to have more than a passing knowledge of classical and classical revival in both art and architecture.

It's not a "Baby", it is a putti, a stock element in painting, sculpture, and architecture.

With the name Ayers, one has to wonder of relation to the bomber boy friend of zero.

[Avid Coug]

“$60 million is chump change - take it out of the IRS and BLM SWAT team budget.”

Maybe they could just cancel all of Moochelle’s travel plans for the rest of the Bamster’s term and use that money to restore the dome. If that’s not enough, lay off her staff of 26 people.

[minnesota_bound]

Looks like the members of Congress have let their place of work crumble like they have the country.

[castlegreyskull]

The Chinese media believed that article, and reported it to their public.

[98ZJ USMC]

Haven't heard much about acid rain since the 1990s. Talk of it disappeared with talk of "ozone holes".

I know. That's exactly what I was thinking. That was their Gorebal Warming dry run. I love how the ozone holes, magically, became a non-issue just as soon as they banned CFCs. Almost like it was planned that way.

[sphinx]

Point taken. Build it right, and you don't have to worry about repairs.

If memory serves, the outer dome is cast iron. That is an inherently time-limited material. The outer dome was under construction during the Civil War. I'm not surprised that there is significant deterioration.

That said, the story leaves some gaps. The original Bullfinch dome -- the low dome that you see in old pictures -- is still there. The high exterior dome that you see today from outside encases it. The Bullfinch dome was left in place because (1) there was no need to remove it and (2) the Brumidi paintings that we all know and love are, of course, on the inside of the Bullfinch dome. This is what you are looking at from inside the Rotunda. The dome you see from outside is entirely separate.

The Bullfinch dome should be very well protected, so if there is damage, I would guess it is from settling. I would hate to think that it is structurally unsound, because I would hate to lose the paintings if reconstruction became necessary.

Btw, if you ever get the chance to strongarm your congressman, ask him to take you to the top of the dome. This is NOT a public tour, as capacity is severely limited; the basic rule is that a Member or officer of the House or Senate has to personally escort you. This keeps numbers down. Taking interior stairways, you go up to the base of the Bullfinch dome, at which point you are looking down into the Rotunda. (This is where the guide will point out Brumidi's signature on the dome paintings.) Then you step through a door onto the roof of the Capitol, at which point you are in a small space between the two domes. A narrow and steep catwalk staircase takes you up to another door, through which you step out onto a circular walkway immediately below the cupola. This is visible from the ground in pictures of the dome. Best view in Washington, bar none. Tough tour to get, unless you have an in with a congressman.

[Political Junkie Too]

I know. James Taranto reported it on his Best of the Web when it happened. That was hilarious.

-PJ

[GOPJ]

They need to tear it down and put an ordinary office building there. The men we have there now are unworthy of such beauty.

[octex]

Perhaps it would be a gray day in DC were the dome to collapse,, especially during Obama’s last SOTU...
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Kinda makes me think of what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Too much evil in one place.

[RobinOfKingston]

...the $60 million restoration projection,

Keep AF1 on the ground for the next couple years.

[SunkenCiv]

$60 million, that’s about what Moochelle spends on one vacation.

[hattend]

Too bad they didn’t authorize almost a trillion dollars in 2008 to fix infrastructure.

Still wonder where Obama stashed that cash.