Florida State Capitol

The Florida State Capitol is the state capitol of the U.S. state of Florida. It houses executive and legislative offices and the chambers of the Florida Legislature (consisting of the Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives). The capitol is located at the intersection of Apalachee Parkway and Monroe Street in downtown Tallahassee, Florida, the state capital.

The Capitol is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (excluding state holidays).

History

Tallahassee was named Florida's capital in 1824, midway between the then-largest cities, St. Augustine and Pensacola. In 1972 the Legislature authorized money for a new Capitol complex to include House and Senate chambers and offices, along with a 22-story executive office building. The site chosen for the new complex was Waller Park. Waller Park sat between the (Old) Capitol and the Florida Supreme Court. Construction began November 8, 1973, and declared completed on August 19, 1977. The building was officially dedicated on March 31, 1978.

Restoration of the old Capitol began as an issue in 1978 with Governor Reubin Askew and the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives favoring demolition. However, the old Capitol building was saved. The structure was restored to its 1902 state (by removing wings to create a plaza between the new and old buildings) primarily because that is when the dome was added to the building. For many Floridians, the dome was the symbol of state government. It reopened to the public in 1982. It now serves as a museum covering events in Florida life and government.

Architecture and layout

The Capitol complex design was a joint venture of the architectural firms of Edward Durell Stone of New York and Reynolds, Smith and Hills of Jacksonville. It was built according to Stone's signature style of "New Classicism," with an ornate grill surrounding a white-columned box. The design symbolized the growth and development of Florida.

The Capitol is usually referred to as a twenty-two story building. However, there are three underground floors, and no sixth floor. The Governor and the Cabinet members have their offices on the Plaza Level of the Capitol. Floors two through four of the base structure of the Capitol are used for the chambers of the Senate and House of Representatives; the offices of the Senate President, Secretary and Sergeant at Arms; the House Speaker, Clerk, and Sergeant at Arms; some legislative committee offices and meeting rooms; and Member offices. The Legislative Chambers are on the fourth floor with their respective public viewing galleries on the fifth floor. The floors between the observation deck and the first five floors are executive and legislative offices. There is a cafeteria on the Lower Level, a snack bar on the tenth floor, and the Florida Welcome Center just inside the west Plaza Level entrance. The Senate office building and the House office building are each four stories high and located on either end of Capitol Complex. The 2nd and 3rd floors have bridges that allow people to walk between the Capitol and office buildings. These buildings contain primarily committee meeting rooms and legislative offices. The Knott Building was attached to the Capitol via a skywalk in 1999. The west front is known formally as Waller Park, for Curtis L. Walter, Judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2003, the dolphin statue “Stormsong” was added within Waller Park’s Florida Heritage Fountain.

tatistics

The Capitol was built using:
*3,700 tons of structural steel
*2,800 tons of reinforcing steel
*25,000 cubic yards (19,000 m³) of concrete (the equivalent of 16 football fields, each one foot thick).
*It also has convert|12000|sqft|m2|-2 of walnut paneling
*12,000 gallons (45,000 L) of paint
*convert|62000|sqft|m2|-2 of Italian marble (about 1.5 acres).

In addition, there were:
*convert|60000|sqft|m2|-3 of carpet
*convert|92000|sqft|m2|-2 of terrazzo flooring
*convert|30|mi|km|0 of telephone cable
*convert|250|mi|km|-1 of electrical wire

For the 1,016 days it took to build the New Capitol, an estimated 3.2 million man-hours of labor were expended. The total area is convert|718000|sqft|m2|-2|abbr=on, which is equal to approximately 400 homes. Inside the Capitol, there are 66 public restrooms, 40 sets of stairs, 14 elevators, 360 underground parking spaces, and over 2,000 doors. The cost for the Capitol was $43,070,741. An additional $1,957,338 was committed to landscaping and to the plaza, fountains, and steps on the west front. The grand total was $45,028,079.

Approximately 1,500 persons work in the Capitol during a large part of the year. However, when the Legislature is in session, an estimated 5,000 persons occupy the building. The architects and engineers who designed and built the Capitol estimated its working life at a century.

Points of interest

Capitol grounds

On the northeast corner of the Capitol Complex is the Florida Sri Chimoy Peace State Marker. East of the House Office Building is a replica of the Liberty Bell. The replica was a gift to the citizens of Florida as symbol of the 1950 United States Savings Bonds Independence Drive. Within the Capitol Courtyard is a memorial in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., dedicated in 1984. South of the King Memorial is The Florida Fraternal Order of Police Law Enforcement Memorial (dedicated in 2000). The memorial has the names of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Outside of the Senate Office Building is a monument dedicated to Floridians who have received the Purple Heart medal. On the lawn of the Old Capitol sit two marble obelisks. The northern one is dedicated to the men of Leon County who perished in the Civil War. The other is a monument to Capt. John Parkhill. Capt. Parkhill was killed at Palm Hammock, Florida leading the Leon Volunteers in chase of members of the Seminole Nation. Slightly northwest of the Civil War obelisk is Old Capitol Historical Marker. A plaque designating the legislative act naming this area after Judge Curtis L. Waller is on the south wall of the west park entrance. The Florida Heritage Fountain (and Stormsong) sits in the center of Waller Park.

The Capitol

The Plaza Level holds several items of note besides the offices of the Governor and the Cabinet. In the Rotunda, a copy of the State Seal cast in bronze and mounted on terra verde marble sits. This is not current seal, but one in use when building was completed. It is surrounded by five smaller seals representing major sovereign nations who controlled Florida (France, Spain, Great Britain, the Confederate States of America, and the United States). North of the Rotunda is the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame and the Fallen Firefighters Wall of Honor. To the south are the Florida Artists Hall of Fame and a memorial for Florida's Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. Southwest of the Rotunda is the Heritage Chapel, an area designed to serve as a meditative space. Opposite of the Chapel is a plaque that states “This plaque is dedicated to Senator Lee Wisenborn whose valiant effort to move the Capitol to Orlando was the prime motivation for the construction of this building.” The west Plaza Level is the Florida Welcome Center and the "Images of the Sunshine State" murals by Florida artist James Rosenquist. The Florida Welcome Center offer maps, brochures including a self-guided tour pamphlet, and related information.

The public viewing galleries for the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate are on the fifth floor. A series of murals on Florida’s history by Christopher Still encircle the House chamber floor. Outside of the Senate galleries is the Five Flags Mural by Renee Faure depicting people from the Florida history.

The Observation Deck is the top or twenty-second floor of the Capitol building. The deck is convert|307|ft|m|0 above the Plaza Level and convert|512|ft|m|0 above sea level. In the east wing is an art gallery featuring a rotating display of artwork by Florida resident artists and a series of bronze plaques on the inductees of the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. The southern side is the Freedom Shrine.

The View and Legends

. There has been a long time Tallahassee joke, that the original plans for the building called for a fountain in the center of the roof garden on top of the building. There is no evidence that this is true.Fact|date=October 2008 In the mean time, it has won a contest due to its appearance [http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/phallic/mostvotes.php] .

See also

* Marshall Ledbetter

References

External links

* [http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/facts/reports/capitol/ History of Florida's Capitols - Florida Department of State]
* [http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/museum/sites/oldcapitol/ The Old Capitol (The Florida Center of Political History and Governance)]
* [http://fcn.state.fl.us/dms/dbc/ha/Capitol/capitol.html Florida Department of Management Services]