Flyover People: The beacon
Cheryl Unruh
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
The green dome can be seen from afar.
A lighthouse for the prairie, the Kansas Capitol stands proud and tall on this land without a seashore.
And at the top of the dome is Ad Astra, a Kansa warrior who points the way, guides us through life’s difficult stars.
Dave and I were in Topeka a few weeks ago and we drove past the Statehouse. I noticed the Abe Lincoln statue on the south lawn and stopped to take a photograph.
Some of the ground surrounding the statehouse has been stripped. The Capitol lawn is a construction zone filled with materials and machines. A multi-phase project which began in 2001 will continue through 2011.
It’s a 100-year-old building and then some. Construction began in 1867 and was completed in 1903.
We were there on a Saturday and I was surprised to find the building open — and that a dome tour was about to start.
Last spring, Dave climbed the 296 steps on the dome tour. I saw his photographs of the uppermost staircase which hangs 75 feet above the inner dome, and I was fairly certain in advance that I wouldn’t be climbing that particular stairway.
On the tour, visitors can stop at any level they choose. I stopped at the eighth floor, because that hanging stairway was the next step.
The eighth floor is above the inner dome but below the outer dome. On this level there are plenty of windows and I circled the inside of the dome to look out over Topeka.
“One hundred twenty-two steps left and you’ll be there,” the tour guide said to those who continued ascending.
A 4-year-old bounced up the staircase. She, her lagging father, and about seven others, including Dave, made it to the very top. They walked around outside on the tiny balcony that rims the top of the green dome, just below our silent friend, Ad Astra, and nearly 300 feet above the ground.
The dome tour is an adventure, but the Capitol has much more to offer: art, architecture, symbolism and history.
Renovations on the Senate chamber were completed as the 2006 Legislative session began. This room is something to ooh and ahh about — the chamber is gorgeous.
Slanted November light beamed through the south windows of the Senate chamber. A richness glowed in the ornate molding, in the gold leaf detail, in the brass pillars with their morning glory and rose designs.
Our tour guide pointed out lamps in the room. “Those four lights represent eternal peace and they are always on. If you drive by at night you can see the lights through the windows,” she said.
The guide also mentioned the chandelier globes, hand-crafted in Czechoslovakia. Each globe has 34 stars etched into the glass to represent Kansas as the 34th state.
A bookshelf in the Senate chamber shows off the authorship of the legislators — volumes of Kansas Statutes Annotated — an anthology of laws. Not a best-seller, but a fun read nonetheless.
Standing in the rotunda are limestone statues of four famous Kansans: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Amelia Earhart, Arthur Capper and William Allen White.
Several artists have painted murals on the Statehouse walls, but the most dramatic and most recognized artwork is the “John Brown” mural by John Stueart Curry.
On this quiet Saturday afternoon, the Statehouse was a building of closed doors, each one holding a mystery. Hallways carried the sound of museum echoes, footsteps on marble as a Capitol Police officer made his rounds.
The 1966 tornado proved that there’s no way this building will fly away with the wind. Acres of marble keep it grounded.
Inside and out, the Capitol exudes strength and beauty. It is our beacon on the prairie.
“Flyover People” is online at www.flyoverpeople.net.
F Cheryl Unruh can be reached at cheryl@flyoverpeople.net.