If you’ve ever been on, or heard the Senate portion of my standard Capitol tour, you’ll know that I have a penchant for horrifying visitors with the Senate’s 1957 decision to remove the original etched glass ceiling tiles and replace them with wood. “What were they thinking?” I ask, gesturing to the beautifully restored ceiling and shaking my head.
But while reading through some recently clipped old newspaper articles, I was reminded that it could have been worse. Around the same time, the Senate commissioned a major lighting overhaul in hopes of significantly boosting the Chamber’s lighting levels. Under the guidance of Legislative Technician Cosmo Calkins, the Hatzel & Buchler company of Lansing removed all the lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling’s 110 decorative pendants and installed thirty-six new 750 watt “down lights.” At the same time, several new 300 watt “urn-type” fixtures replaced the original bracket lights that had hung from the gallery and walls since 1879.
“It is something we should have had long ago,” Calkins told The State Journal. “Someone probably will say they now have too much light but after they get used to it, I’m sure everyone will be happy with the new system.” The upgrades cost about $29,000.
Thankfully, Senate members drew a line in the sand and refused to have the four original sunburst chandeliers replaced with one big $4,000 modern fixture. “They seem to have a sentimental attachment for the old-style cut-glass decorated chandeliers that have hung in the chamber since the Capitol was built,” reporter Howard Rugg wrote.
So next time you hear me trying to make my visitors grimace—or find yourself sitting in the gallery, waiting for something exciting to happen—enjoy a good, long look at the Senate’s replica glass ceiling tiles, and its four original sunburst chandeliers. -Valerie Marvin, Capitol Director of Education & History
