Velocity: Sate Capitol interior restoration continues, exterior completed

 MOLLY M. FLEMING

Visitors entering the Oklahoma State Capitol will have a grandiose experience as they go into the people’s building, where a $193 million renovation project is more than 75% completed.

The $60 million exterior renovation finished in April.

With 18 months still to go, Project Manager Trait Thompson and his team are on the short stretch to the finish. It would take five legislative sessions to get the restoration done and there are two more sessions to go.

The $245 million project started in 2014, when the legislature passed two bond packages to help with funding.

The entire restoration will be completed in 2022, though three pieces will be finished by the 2021 legislative session.

“We’ll have the rotundas open in early 2021,” said Thompson with the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.

Another project that’s wrapping up is the new event space on the building’s first floor. This amenity can be reserved by the public. It will hold 200 people if tables are not used, though there are round tables and chairs that can be set up if needed and are kept adjacent to the meeting space. The large room can also be divided into two smaller rooms.

The third piece that will be finished by the 2021 session is the new entrance. Sitting below the eye view of the building, visitors will head to the east side to find the glass-covered entrance. The portico is attached to the existing building and has plenty of space for people to wait in the security line as they enter. The space is filled with natural light.

As soon as people enter the building through the new entrance, they find the gift shop, information about tours and a touch screen to get directions.

One of the goals with the restoration, Thompson said, is to make the building more visitor friendly. The 450,000-square-foot building was known to be confusing. During the restoration, rooms are being renumbered and once completed, there will be a touchscreen map at each elevator.

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