This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

STATE CAPITOL, continued from p. 1
Pearl River Glass Studio founder Andy Young, left, discusses the restoration of a window from the governor’s office in the Mississippi State Capitol with lead restorer Marsh Nabors.
dome. A sheet metal railing that was installed in the early 1970s around the lantern on top of the main dome will be removed and replaced with a replica of the original terra cotta railing, under the supervision of Boston Valley Terra Cotta, an industry leader that has been in business since 1889 in Orchard Park, New York.
“The capitol has not undergone a complete renovation since the early 1980s,” said Department of Finance and Administration executive director Kevin Upchurch. The 2012 Mississippi Legislature passed the S7.4 million bond project. WFT Architects in Jackson is the architecture firm for the project, and Johnson Construction in Jackson is the contractor, who will coordinate with specialized subcontractors on various jobs. “Everyone involved has gone to great lengths to ensure all subcontractors are well qualified and specialize in historic preservation projects,” said Brenda Davis, who serves as the MDAH curator of the state capitol. Davis is the liaison between the Bureau of Building, Capitol Police, the general contractor, the subcontractors, capitol staff, and members of the legislature and is in charge of coordinating the scheduling of the many phases of the restoration.
Jackson-based Pearl River Glass Studio will oversee the repairs to the seventy-five exterior stained glass windows, which will be removed and transported to the studio, disassembled, cleaned, repaired or restored as needed, reassembled with new leading, and put back in place at the capitol. “The three monumental windows on the north side are unique in that they use multiple plates that create a layered, three-dimensional effect,” said Pearl River founder Andy Young. “It will take about two months on each of those to carefully take them apart, clean,
restore, and reassemble them.” The Gilders’ Studio in 01-ney, Maryland, has completed projects on the Washington Monument and Georgia State Capitol Dome. Later this year they are scheduled to begin work on the iconic golden eagle on the main dome. The statue is made of stamped copper and covered in gold leaf. Scaffolding will be constructed to allow access to the piece, the remaining gold leaf and primer will be stripped away, and a fluoroscope will be used to inspect the statue’s interior for structural damage. The team will make surface repairs as needed, reapply primer to protect the statue, and then gild it with 23.75-karat gold leaf that is being made especially for this project in Florence, Italy.
The size of the eagle—eight feet tall and fifteen feet wide— combined with its materials make it unique, said the studio’s founder Michael Kramer, who has more than forty years’ experience as a gilder. “This thing is huge! Most of the large sculptures we deal with are bronze, but this one is copper,” he said. “It’s a wonderful piece.”
Other work will include the replacement of damaged terra cotta on the main dome, reglazing of the skylights over the House and Senate chambers, repair and replacement of roofing and flashing, and replacing broken concrete walkways. Mayrant and Associates, working with
Scanlon-Taylor Millwork, both companies specializing in historic renovation and located in Jackson, will restore the building’s exterior wood windows. The four copper globe lights positioned around the base of the main dome and the exterior bronze light fixtures have been removed and will be restored by Robinson Iron in Alexander City, Alabama. Perhaps the most complicated undertaking will be the restoration of the main dome’s lantern, a cupola-like structure that sits atop the dome and is the base for the copper eagle. “The deterioration of the lantern will require us to dismantle the railing and columns to expose the steel structure so we can make the necessary repairs,” said Newman. More than 15,000 people
took guided tours of the capitol during the first six months of 2014, and the restoration project will not affect ongoing tours.
Designed in 1900 by noted St. Louis architect Theodore Link, the capitol was completed in 1903. The building has been noted for its elegant design and for the unusually high quality of its materials and craftsmanship. Its renovation in the early 1980s brought recognition to the Capitol’s architectural significance and established a framework that ensured its preservation. Building on the successes of the previous renovation, the current project will further ensure the capitol’s preservation as the practical and symbolic center of Mississippi’s government.
HJC Joins Natchez Fall Pilgrimage
Historic Jefferson College will join the annual Fall Pilgrimage in Natchez as part of a special morning tour offered September 26 and 29 and October 2, 5, 8, and 11 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Red Tour will feature HJC and Sweet Auburn, the first home of Dr. John Wesley Monette, and will be led by reenactors in period costume.
Historic Jefferson College was established in 1802 as the first institution of higher learning in the Mississippi Territory. In 1817 the Mississippi statehood convention took place in a church building adjacent to the college. In 1863 the college
closed and was occupied by Union troops during the Civil War, serving for a time as the offices of the Freedmen’s Bureau. It reopened in 1866 as a preparatory school and became known a? Jefferson Military College until its closure in 1964.
The school was the location for films and television productions including The Adventures ofHuck Finn, The Horse Soldiers starring John Wayne, and the miniseries North and South.
For more information and to purchase pilgrimage tickets, go to natchezpilgrimage.com or call 601-446-6631.