Capitol construction update: Heritage Hall, south lawn coming May 2022

Correction: Joshua Risner's name was originally misspelled in this story.

A cardboard circle duct-taped to the wall holds the spot where a Great Seal will overlook the new welcome center in the Michigan State Capitol — currently still a mess of drywall and copper pipes.

It takes a little imagination, but a visitor to the in-progress Heritage Hall can see the bones of the project taking shape beneath the Capitol.

The $40 million project broke ground in spring 2020 and is expected to be done by May 2022. The remaining work is mostly dependent on specific trades and finishes — tile to be laid and handrails to be installed.

“We’re headed for the finish line,” said Barbra Thumudo, assistant director of facility operations and event coordinator at the Capitol. "We've got the base coat on."

Heritage Hall will face West Ottawa Street and be available for legislative events, private gatherings, student groups and tours.

The atrium will feature a retractable wall to divide the space in two, with one twice the size of the other for flexibility around events like press conferences or portrait unveilings.

Having a separate space for events takes pressure off the actual Capitol building, Thumudo said. The wear and tear of foot traffic from luncheons, meetings and announcements takes a toll on the historic building, which opened in 1879.

While Heritage Hall is a contemporary addition to the Capitol, it's supposed to complement the original structure. The choice of wood and general color scheme will connect the new and original spaces.

Felicia Koch, a project engineer for the Capitol’s historic preservation team, said design choices like skylights and lots of glass to let in natural light are important for subterranean projects like Heritage Hall.

“They make you feel less like you’re underground,” she said.

Other considerations are updates for modern uses. Heritage Hall's full-sized family bathrooms are a welcome addition for visitors, Thumudo said, as the Capitol has none.

Bus drop-off at the main entrance will improve safety for groups of visiting children, allowing unloading on-site instead of making parties cross surrounding streets.

The space will also house the Capitol's tour service, giving visitors a new entry point into the rest of the Capitol: a large staircase leading up to the main floor of the west lobby. Two passenger elevators will also be available.

The final product will feature a number of informational exhibits for visitors, including a wall of facts about the state's three different Capitols throughout history and a period-accurate 1880s office.

Visitors will also get a closer look at the Capitol's battle flag collection, as the flags seen on the main tour of the building are replicas. Climate-controlled rooms within Heritage Hall will be used to store Capitol artifacts, with glass separating visitors and the historians at work preserving the flags.

Artist-in-residence and decorative painter Joshua Risner will use another climate-controlled room for work on preservation efforts on historical portraits and their frames.

The project has ushered along another restoration: the Capitol's south lawn, which will turn from a parking lot back into a grassy park mirroring the promenade on the opposite side. Workers have been laying sod and preparing the lawn in recent weeks as the last of the exterior work on Heritage Hall.

The funding for Heritage Hall was approved in a 2018 supplemental budget signed by former Gov. Rick Snyder, allocating $40 million and trimming the original estimate of $55 million.The project had to scale down to meet the new funding. It won't be large enough to accommodate a State of the State address, Thumudo said, but will house the governor's budget plan unveiling.

The Capitol's 1987-1992 restoration, which addressed years of decline, was the last major update in the building's history. Thumudo, who worked for years in the tour service, said there's now a whole new history to add onto the tours that will start underground in Heritage Hall.

"The (1987) restoration is old news," she said. "It's somewhat painful for us old timers to say."

Contact reporter Annabel Aguiar at aaguiar@lsjnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @annabelaguiar.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Capitol construction update: Heritage Hall, south lawn coming May '22