Carbondale Reporter

Anyone who has visited the Illinois State Capitol in recent years has noticed significant construction. The north wing of the Capitol is undergoing a three-year renovation project aimed at modernizing the historic building while preserving its 19th-century atmosphere and décor.

This current renovation follows previous updates, including a complete revamp of the House and Senate chambers in 2006-2007 and a large-scale rebuild of the west wing in 2011-2012. The west wing renovation completed the architect’s original vision, adding to a story shared by tour guides in two different state capitols hundreds of miles apart.

Construction on the current Illinois State Capitol building at 2nd and Monroe began in 1868 after the state outgrew its then-Capitol building at 6th and Adams. Designed by Chicago architect Alfred Piquenard, it was intended to be the tallest domed structure in the United States, providing enough office space for every state government agency at that time. The building's broad staircases, grand hallways, and high ceilings were designed to capture the grandeur of the Gilded Age.

The centerpiece of Piquenard’s vision was a grand staircase facing the rotunda between the second and third floors, illuminated from above by a large skylight and from its base by lamps held aloft by classically-draped female statues manufactured in Piquenard’s native France. However, some Illinois legislators found these statues too risqué for a late-19th-century public building. Consequently, they were replaced with plain lampposts.

Piquenard died in 1876, but his team continued his work. The building was sufficiently constructed for state government operations to move in during 1877, although it was not fully completed until 1888.

Before his death, Piquenard had been working on another project several hundred miles west. In 1874 Iowa Governor Cyrus Clay Carpenter and commissioners visited Springfield's construction site and were impressed by Piquenard’s work. They hired him to design Iowa’s new capitol in Des Moines, which included many architectural similarities to Springfield's structure—most notably, the two statues holding lamps at the staircase.

These statues remain in Des Moines today.

In early 21st century renovations of Illinois' west wing aimed to restore it as much as possible to its original appearance from 1877. Over decades, offices had been redesigned as government grew; mezzanines installed for more office space eliminated many high-ceilinged workspaces; various lighting styles and paint colors eroded away much of the building's original charm. This renovation sought restoration—including recreating statue lampposts based on Piquenard’s design.

Iowa did not return their statues; instead designers used laser scans from Des Moines' originals to create exact replicas for Springfield's staircase landing.

Nearly 150 years later Alfred Piquenard’s vision for a grand capitol building in Springfield is finally realized.

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