Steve Bloom/The Olympian
U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash. (left) and Olympia Mayor Stan Biles tour the Capitol Rotunda on Friday. The Capitol lies within Baird's 3rd Congressional District.

Officials weigh Capitol damage

LAUREN WALSH, THE OLYMPIAN

The legislative building, which houses offices of the governor and other elected officials, remained closed Friday as structural experts continued assessing damage.

Olympia Mayor Stan Biles and U.S. Rep. Brian Baird toured the domed Capitol building Friday, led by Andy Stepelton, a General Administration senior property manager. Stepelton pointed out areas with the most serious damage.

Chandeliers remained intact, as did the massive marble slabs that cover much of the building's interior.

But inside the State Reception Room on the second floor, panels from the skylight shattered. Glass shards stick through the carpeting and furniture, and there are holes in the ceiling.

Another concern is the ornate ceilings above the House and Senate chambers. The plaster facades are suspended from the main ceiling by steel straps. Engineers are doing tests to see if the straps were damaged.

What appears to be the worst damage -- a jagged hole in the curved back wall of the House chamber -- is not structurally unsafe, Stepelton said.

"Curved walls hate earthquakes," he said. "They act like a hinge. ... It just cracks like crazy."

The wall is hollow, so when the quake cracked the plaster, there was nothing to hold it in place. The result is a child-sized peephole into the House floor.

The aesthetic problem could remain until the Legislature makes decisions about a rehabilitation project for the building, Stepelton said. The rehabilitation project has been in the works since before the earthquake.

Most of the legislative building is undamaged, and parts are expected to open next week.

The building fared well for its size and age, Stepelton said. It was built in 1928.

House and Senate chambers had similar skylights, which were damaged in 1965, when the last big earthquake hit Washington, Stepelton said. The hazardous stained-glass skylights have been replaced with sturdy metal inserts that move with the building.

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