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Public invited to 'Grand Rededication' of Capitol

The Idaho State Capitol Commission invites the public to a "Grand Rededication Ceremony" on Jan.9, at noon in downtown Boise. The commission is preparing a formal, but brief re-opening ceremony on the Capitol’s southern steps. The public will enjoy a housewarming immediately following for the remainder of Saturday afternoon.

This is the first public invitation inside the Capitol in 30 months since restoration and expansion began in April 2007.

The Capitol has remained a major construction zone since that time – closing two entire blocks of the Idaho State Capitol mall for its first comprehensive restoration and expansion in almost 90 years.

The $120 million project remains on schedule and under budget. The project team has upgraded every major function of the building including its strength, stability, climate-control and life-safety systems.

“Some of the most significant upgrades in the building are hidden behind the walls, ceilings, and floors,” said Commission Chairman Andrew Erstad, “but everyone who visits will be impressed with the stately and grand appearance of the public areas.”

The comprehensive floor-by-floor restoration brings the Idaho Capitol into the modern era as a functional building, yet retains the charm and distinction that Idaho’s governmental landmark conveyed upon its original completion in 1920. The 50,000 square foot underground Garden-Level expansion of the Capitol adds ten modern committee hearing rooms that seat between 80 and 200.

The expansion extends the Capitol’s underground footprint to occupy its entire two-city-block parcel while carefully preserving the original Table Rock sandstone façade and the century-old Capitol profile against the backdrop of the Boise Foothills.

To view a special invitation to the ceremony and learn more about the reopening please visit http://capitolcommission.idaho.gov/celebration/. For more information contact Commission Liaison Gary Daniel, at (208) 332-1971.