Alaska State Capitol

Alaska State Capitol

The Alaska State Capitol is the state capitol (parliament building) of Alaska. Located on Main Street in Juneau , the capital of the state of Alaska , it houses the Alaskan legislature and the offices of the Alaska governor and lieutenant governor .

history

In 1792 Kodiak became the first capital of Russian America . In 1808 Sitka , or Novo-Arkhangelsk, became the capital. With the Alaska Purchase of 1867 Sitka became the headquarters of the Department of Alaska under US Army Major General Jefferson C. Davis. After the army unit was needed for the campaign against the Nez Percé in 1877 , Alaska was without administration until 1879. Then the US Navy established a location in Sitka under Lester A. Beardslee. With the law of 1884, the United States Congress established the District of Alaska , with the provisional seat of government in Sitka and a presidential government led by Governor John Henry Kinkead . In 1900, Congress passed a law that Juneau would become the capital as it had overtaken Sitka in economic growth and importance.

The construction of the Capitol

The United States Congress in 1911 approved funds to build a government building for what was then the Alaska Territory . Construction was delayed by the United States Congress , World War I and difficulties in purchasing the required land. Locals donated some of the funds needed and construction began on September 18, 1929. The building, originally called the Federal and Territorial Building , was dedicated on February 14, 1991 . It was designed by architects of the United States Treasury , headed by James A. Wetmore in Art Deco - style architecture designed. The building was initially used by the United States government and housed a federal court and post office . The building has been used by the state government since Alaska was named a state under the Alaska Statehood Act 1959 .

Relocation controversy

In 1960 Robert Atwood, the editor of the Anchorage Daily Times, launched a campaign to move the capital to the economic center of Alaska. These efforts culminated in referendums that failed to relocate the capital to the Cook Inlet area (1960) and western Alaska (1962, at least 30 miles from Anchorage). A third initiative was successful in 1974, after which Willow was chosen as the new capital in 1976 . In 1978 and 1982 efforts to finance the relocation failed. An initiative to move to Wasilla failed in 1994, as did the 2002 demand that the legislature should hold its meetings in Matanuska-Susitna Borough .

Redesign of the Capitol

In 2004, the Juneau Capitol Planning Commission launched a competition to design a replacement building. After controversy over the unconventional nature of many of the proposed designs, lack of support from the state government, and lack of funding, all plans were halted in 2005. Alaskan architect Marianne Cusato presented a plan for a traditional government building that met with great approval.

architecture

House of Representatives Chamber

The Senate chamber

Alaska Governor's Office

The building is six stories high and made of reinforced concrete faced with bricks. The first two floors have an Indiana limestone facade. The portico has four pillars made of token marble from Prince of Wales Island , which was also used for the interior paneling. Since, unlike most state capitals, there is no large landscaped park, the building has the appearance of a normal office building. Along with Delaware , Hawaii , Louisiana , New Mexico , New York , North Dakota , Ohio , Oregon , Tennessee and Virginia, it is one of the eleven state capitals that do not have a dome .

In front of the building is a copy of the Liberty Bell . Each state and territory had received such a copy from the United States government in 1950 to increase sales of government bonds.

Are located in the lobby of clay reliefs Harvest of the country and Harvest of the Sea , the hunting and fishing represent, as well as a bust of the leading civil rights activist of the Alaska Native Elizabeth Peratrovich. Offices and committee rooms are located on the ground floor and the first floor.

The second floor houses the Alaskan Senate and Alaskan House of Representatives boardrooms and committee rooms . On the walls are the early work of local photographers Lloyd Winter and Percy Pond and busts of the first two US Senators from Alaska, Edward Lewis Bartlett and Ernest Gruening .

The governor and lieutenant governor's offices are on the third floor. The doors of the executive offices are made of black birch , with hand carvings that show the manufacturing industry of Alaska. The Hall of Governors presents portraits of governors and lieutenants from the District of Alaska era to the present day.

Further offices and meeting rooms for legislation are on the fourth floor. The finance committees are located on the fifth floor.

Many areas of the building have been restored to their 1930s appearance, particularly the second and fifth floors, which used to be the federal courtrooms.

Web links

Commons : Alaska State Capitol  - Collection of Pictures, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ History 1910 Capmove ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Capmove ( Memento from February 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ Alaska deserves

Coordinates: 58 ° 18 ′ 7.6 "  N , 134 ° 24 ′ 37.4"  W.