July Meeting:

Members and guests met at the Texas State Capitol on the 18th of July for a tour.

The tour of the Capitol was led by Bonnie Campbell, curator extraordinaire.  With a Masters in Art History, she is a passionate lady.  She receives many requests for tours of her restoration which won a National Trust for Preservation honor.  She went to great lengths to track down current owners of old furnishings.  Every year she goes back to them just in case they are ready to donate that old chair to the Capitol.  The restoration began with about 5 years of research into the way it was in the 1886 to 1915 period..  The curators looked at many old pictures and documents and talked to many old people to accomplish the restoration.  For instance, the original carpet was milled in 27 inch rolls out of wool while your carpet probably came from a 12 foot synthetic roll.

The biggest challenge was getting the building closer to code and to house the displaced people.  They didn't have enough room to start.  So far there are 10 restored areas.  Although I didn't go to A&M, one of the more interesting rooms is the Agricultural Museum in the west wing.  It always makes me thankful that I was born later when I see the old ways of life.

I was impressed by the size of the Senate room.  There are 31 members, and their desks are widely spaced which was probably done so they wouldn't talk to each other while a speaker was orating.  The House chamber appeared to be about the same size, but it had to accommodate 150 since 1923 when they reached their maximum number.  The Senate, Supreme Court, and Governor's furniture are made of walnut, while the House and other departments' furniture are made of oak.  Although I couldn't verify it, I was told that it's 290 feet from the floor to the star in the ceiling, and that there are 768 steps to the top.  There are 40 steps between the first and second floor, and there are as many as 32 steps to the first landing.  This would be a great place for stair climbing races.

From a facilities' viewpoint, I noticed that they have a small pigeon problem and that they could save some energy by replacing their incandescent lights with fluorescent ones. There's also lots of wood to polish. It was finished in 1889 and was among the first and most lavishly furnished rooms in the building.  They get good use out of their carpets. One note on the governor's reception room was that new carpet was installed in 1910, 1936, 1963, and 1986. 

By J. Robert Howard