Now, honestly...
Today, in my Legislative Workshop class, we discussed the building of the Capitol building, its subsequent neglect and deterioration, and the current 2-decades old effort to restore it to its former glory. Some of the things that needed repair were pretty understandable...
There was cracking of the limestone sheathing on the building and new limestone needed to be put on to replace the old. Elevators needed to be brought up to code. Wiring needed to be buried in the walls as opposed to being open and running along the ceilings (the Capitol wasn't built when they had electricity, so when they put it in, they just never bothered to hide it).
Some things, though, boggled the mind. From the 6th floor on up to the top of the rotunda, objects were covered in graffiti. Yes, that's right. Thousands of the people who came to the Kansas Capitol building during the last century took the time out of their visit to our State's seat of government to deface the building. And a large percentage of the graffiti wasn't something simple like taking an ink-pen to the wall. In a frighteningly large number of cases, people carved their names or initials into the wals, staircases, and railings of the building.
In many cases, people even took the tour all the way to the very top of the capitol building to the tiny balcony at the very top of the rotunda (as I understand it you can't go up there anymore). While they were up taking in the sight of the skyline of Topeka, they hooked themselves into the railing, and leaned out over about 14 stories of empty air to carve their names into the outside of the dome. Apparently, it became like a contest to see who could carve their name farthest out on the dome.
When the workmen were trying to repair all of the carvings, they left the farthest out carving. It was a man by the name of Walter Niehaus, and he even provided his city too (St. Paul, MN). The officer in charge of the repairs looked up a St. Paul phone directory and sure enough, found a listing for Walter Niehaus. On a whim, he called up the person. An 87-year old man answered the phone.
Was this Walter Niehaus? It was. Had he ever been to Kansas? He had. Had he ever visited the Capitol building? Why, yes, he had, back right after he'd gotten back from WWII.
When he found out that the Kansas government wasn't asking for money to cover his desecration of our capitol building, he seemed more relaxed. What the officer wanted to know was how he'd gotten his name so far out from the balcony at the top of the capitol. Apparently, Mr. Niehaus worked with an operation that had wheat harvesters and traveled around the Midwest helping farmers cut their wheat. He and his associates had stopped in Topeka and visited the Capitol building. When they were at the top, they hooked four men together in a chain and dangled poor Walter out in the empty blue to carve all of their names, but he got scared after only finishing his own name so they hauled him back up.
Now, Kansas history doesn't usually interest me all that much, but this is the sort of trivia about our Capitol building that makes taking this class worthwhile.
There was cracking of the limestone sheathing on the building and new limestone needed to be put on to replace the old. Elevators needed to be brought up to code. Wiring needed to be buried in the walls as opposed to being open and running along the ceilings (the Capitol wasn't built when they had electricity, so when they put it in, they just never bothered to hide it).
Some things, though, boggled the mind. From the 6th floor on up to the top of the rotunda, objects were covered in graffiti. Yes, that's right. Thousands of the people who came to the Kansas Capitol building during the last century took the time out of their visit to our State's seat of government to deface the building. And a large percentage of the graffiti wasn't something simple like taking an ink-pen to the wall. In a frighteningly large number of cases, people carved their names or initials into the wals, staircases, and railings of the building.
In many cases, people even took the tour all the way to the very top of the capitol building to the tiny balcony at the very top of the rotunda (as I understand it you can't go up there anymore). While they were up taking in the sight of the skyline of Topeka, they hooked themselves into the railing, and leaned out over about 14 stories of empty air to carve their names into the outside of the dome. Apparently, it became like a contest to see who could carve their name farthest out on the dome.
When the workmen were trying to repair all of the carvings, they left the farthest out carving. It was a man by the name of Walter Niehaus, and he even provided his city too (St. Paul, MN). The officer in charge of the repairs looked up a St. Paul phone directory and sure enough, found a listing for Walter Niehaus. On a whim, he called up the person. An 87-year old man answered the phone.
Was this Walter Niehaus? It was. Had he ever been to Kansas? He had. Had he ever visited the Capitol building? Why, yes, he had, back right after he'd gotten back from WWII.
When he found out that the Kansas government wasn't asking for money to cover his desecration of our capitol building, he seemed more relaxed. What the officer wanted to know was how he'd gotten his name so far out from the balcony at the top of the capitol. Apparently, Mr. Niehaus worked with an operation that had wheat harvesters and traveled around the Midwest helping farmers cut their wheat. He and his associates had stopped in Topeka and visited the Capitol building. When they were at the top, they hooked four men together in a chain and dangled poor Walter out in the empty blue to carve all of their names, but he got scared after only finishing his own name so they hauled him back up.
Now, Kansas history doesn't usually interest me all that much, but this is the sort of trivia about our Capitol building that makes taking this class worthwhile.
posted by The Academian | 3:12 PM
3 Comments:
I would really hate to think what childhood would be for Kansas schoolchildren if they ever covered up Walter's bit of graffiti.
I remember being led halfway up the stairs of the dome and being told that, since the dome is caving in, we couldn't go to the top, but isn't that a daring bit of graffiti up there? I literally can still see it in my head.
You're lucky, MMD. When I went as a kid, they wouldn't take us up even to see the stairs. I've never been beyond the normal part of the capitol you can reach without a guide, unless you count the tunnel system under the capitol where my Dad thinks the secret KBI headquarters lay.
Also, the whole restoration is supposed to be finished in the Summer of 2011, which should be cool. Then I may finally get to see the top of the capitol building.
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