An extreme makeover

Augustans and other Georgians who make it to Atlanta during the upcoming legislative session are going to be impressed - if not with the lawmakers, then with the $70 million renovation of the gold-domed Capitol Building that's scheduled to be completed by Jan. 10.

The 115-year-old structure, rich in the state’s historical lore, has added technological conveniences and been patched up from time to time to keep it serviceable, but this marks the first full-scale "extreme makeover," if you will - and it has been a decade in the making.

It is also a job well done - one which should make all Georgians proud.The $70 million in taxpayers' money was well spent. If you don't believe it, go see for yourself. It's fascinating, like going back in time more than a century. For that's what the renovation is all about, restoring the Capitol Building, as much as possible, to what it looked like in 1889 when it first opened for the people's business.

The restoration project got under way in 1993 when then-Gov. Zell Miller created a commission for just that purpose. The plan was to consult historians and preservationists on how to reclaim the building's character.

The biggest challenge was to maintain a delicate balance between the restoration, i.e., keeping faith with the historic structure's original builders, and the needs of lawmakers for a technologically savvy structure. The former was to be eye-catching and historic; the latter serviceable and efficient. Those who have seen the work say the balance has been successfully struck.

State Sen. George Hooks, D-Americus, a historian who as chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the early 1990s played a key role in getting the restoration project funded, is delighted with the result. The Capitol, he says, has reclaimed its proper place as "the flagship of the entire state, a treasure for all Georgians to be proud of."

We bet the original builders would be, too. From now on, let's maintain the update on an annual basis and not let the fine, old building lapse back into embarrassing disrepair.