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

Lawmakers are rallying around the 150-year-old U.S. Capitol Dome, weather-whipped and torn open by acid rain, worried that if an 11th-hour restoration isn’t fully funded, its most important traits could be lost forever.

“If this work isn't done,” warned Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., “we're going to lose the dome, we're going to lose it as it truly, historically is.”

A big fix, added Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., is needed, “so that we don't lose these treasures forever.”

The two Senate appropriators are joining to help Architect of the Capitol Stephen T. Ayers secure the money needed to complete the $60 million restoration projection, set to go into final stages next month with the erection of scaffolding to surround the whole dome, just like that done recently at the Washington Monument.

The interior is also in need of restoration, and the Capitol Rotunda is temporarily closed as interior safety netting is installed to begin that $21 million project.

Pockmarked with about 300 cracks and broken stone about a dozen years ago, there are now 1,300 cracks in the dome’s exterior covered with a dozen layers of lead-based paint that allow water to seep in and stain the interior. Some stone carvings are so damaged that it’s hard to make them out...

Congress is expected to fund the project, one of over 20 emergency fixes on the Capitol campus, and Ayers said it should be done in time for the next presidential Inauguration in January 2017.

The House has moved forward with funding, and the Senate is expected to follow in May. One insider suggested that members would rather spend less on it, but realize that restoring a piece of American history can’t be skimped on.

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.

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.

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