Twenty years ago, the Oklahoma Capitol finally got its dome
When government officials topped the state Capitol with a dome in 2002, it was meant to fulfill the building’s original design and “truly reflect our Oklahoma pride,” according to former Gov. Frank Keating, who pushed the dome project forward.
Twenty years later, the state Capitol dome has become an ingrained part of Oklahoma City’s skyline and a symbol for a state government that before then didn’t really have one. While the state Capitol was originally built in 1915 to house all state government agencies, it now sits at the center of a sprawling campus of buildings, the dome rising above them all.
Trait Thompson, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, said people often assume the dome’s construction was abandoned because the state ran out of money or construction materials were in short supply during World War I.
But neither is true.
“The dome would have cost between $250,000 and $500,000 depending on the types of materials they would have used,” Thompson said. “So you do the math and think about how $500,000 out of a $1.5 million building (cost in 1915) is a large chunk. They weren't willing to do an additional appropriation to get the dome built.”
State officials were anxious to get all government employees under one roof to avoid paying more rent for office space in downtown Oklahoma City. The governor at the time also wanted to invest in a new state hospital, which swayed the decision to nix the dome from the original construction plan.
The decision was controversial.
“There were people who said we need a dome, that the building looks stupid without a dome, and there were others who said domes are an anachronism of a former time,” Thompson said. “And that debate continued for the next 80 years.”
Various ideas were offered for how to top the Capitol
Efforts to top the Capitol were discussed over the years, including in the 1950s when former Lt. Gov. James E. Berry suggested a 15-story office tower be built where the dome would have gone. Another idea was to build a dome with a revolving restaurant.
In the 1980s an effort to build a dome gained some momentum but fizzled without large-scale public support.
"Basically, no one thought we needed a dome," said J. Blake Wade, the leader of the effort, who spoke to the Washington Post in 2002. "Our polling showed that about half the population believed we had a certain uniqueness in not having one."
But in 2000, Gov. Keating led an effort to raise more than $20 million to complete the dome.
Building the dome 20 years ago was possible because the original builders of the Capitol included the necessary support for a future dome, which ended up being much lighter at 5 million pounds.
Atop the dome is "The Guardian" statue, created by artist and former Seminole Nation Chief Enoch Kelly Haney.
Enoch, who died earlier this year, said he wanted the statue to represent "the valor of Oklahomans and their ability to overcome the most horrific catastrophes such as the bombing at the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City."
Lawmakers wanted to remove corporate names from dome
The names of corporations and foundations that contributed at least $1 million to the construction project were put inside the dome, including the Halliburton Co. and Conoco Inc.
In 2020, the Senate passed a bill to remove the names during the Capitol renovation process. But the pandemic halted the bill’s process, and by the time the Legislature reconvened, the renovation work was nearly finished and rebuilding the scaffolding needed to remove the names would have been costly.
While not open to the general public, it is possible to visit the top of the dome through a network of spiral staircases and ladders. At one level, visitors are able to sign their names on the inside of the dome.
Today, the dome is often the most visible aspect of the Capitol from outside and draws the most attention inside, as visitors are able to look up into its sunset-painted motif.
"A civilization cannot be celebrated, cannot be recognized, unless you have monuments to that civilization," said Keating, speaking at a ceremony in 2001 to begin the dome building project.
Oklahoma state government reporting is supported in part by a grant from the Kirkpatrick Foundation. To support work like this, consider purchasing a digital subscription to the Oklahoman today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma's state capitol dome turns 20 this year
