Idaho State Capitol

The Idaho State Capitol is the state capitol building of the U.S. state of Idaho. Housing the Idaho Legislature, it is located in the state capital of Boise. The main building was completed by 1913. It is the only state capitol to be heated by a geothermal well.

The height of the capitol building is 208 feet tall, coinciding with the state's area code (208).

Previous building

The original brick Capitol building, located between Sixth and Seventh and Jefferson and State streets, was built in 1886. Four years later, Idaho was named a state. Idaho's new government soon outgrew the Capitol, and in 1905 a new building was commissioned.

Current building

Local sandstone from east Boise's Tablerock Quarry was used as well as convict labor. The sandstone and marble Capitol was completed in 1920 and cost a little over $2 million.

The Idaho State Capitol is currently closed to the public for extensive renovations. Government offices have been temporarily moved to nearby state buildings. The Idaho Legislature will meet in converted courtrooms in the old Ada County Courthouse until renovations are completed in 2010 [http://www.capitolcommission.idaho.gov/ Idaho State Capitol Commission] Accessed 3 August 2007] .

Details of the Capitol building

There are underground tunnels beneath the capitol mall connecting the Capitol Building to the Supreme Court building and other government buildings. Used daily, these tunnels are accessible only to government employees and can be used as a bomb shelter to protect the Governor and other public servants. The Capitol Building has a special parking stall next to the main entrance stairway reserved for the governor's personal car. The governor's car uses the Idaho license plate number 1.

The large bell directly in front of the Capitol Building is a scale replica of the Liberty Bell (uncracked). Pedestrians can ring the bell. The elevator on the east side of the rotunda could once be stopped between floors by forcing the doors open to view the walls of this elevator shaft that have been signed by hundreds of House and Senate pages, as well as elected representatives. The only meeting rooms in the building where the public is never welcome are the caucus chambers and the Senators' and Representatives' lounges.

Twenty portraits of Idaho territorial and state Governors painted by artist Herbert A. Collins in 1911 are on display.

External links

* [http://www.capitolcommission.idaho.gov/ Idaho State Capitol Commission]
* [http://www.idahoptv.org/buildingbig/buildings/idcapital.html Idaho Capitol Building]

Notes