Kentucky Capitol Building Gets $300M Multi-Year Makeover

Messer Construction is construction manager to upgrade the 115-year-old structure in Frankfort, with work to finish in 2029

Photo courtesy of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

Kentucky's Capitol Dome is undergoing a $26-million restoration.

A nearly $300-million renovation of Kentucky’s 115-year-old state capitol building in Frankfort, Ky. is moving forward—with Cincinnati-based Messer Construction as construction manager, Champlin/EOP Architects as architect and Brown + Kubican of Louisville as structural engineers.

The Kentucky General Assembly appropriated $291.5 million for the project, the structure's first major renovation in 70 years. Work will upgrade infrastructure, add new safety features including automatic sprinklers and fire-rated egress stairs, make the building more accessible for those with disabilities, improve security, enhance spaces for visitors and staff and complete numerous deferred-maintenance projects.

The project is set for completion in 2029.

The renovation will also cover such issues as porous and corroded water pipes, masses of electrical wiring in the ceilings and outdated heating and cooling systems.

The capitol dome, which had a small tree growing in it due to accumulation of organic material, according to a local news report, has already been undergoing a $26-million renovation focused on replacing 80-year-old terra cotta tiles, installing water proofing, making structural repairs and removing algae and other growth.

“We are really not changing anything historic. It’s just going to be a newer, cleaner, shinier version of the original [dome],” said Donna Farmer, capitol renovation project manager, in a news report.

The capitol dome

Messer Construction has been named CM for the building's first major renovation in 70 years.
Photo by Getty Images/traveler1116

The renovation also includes a new roof, replacement of 200 windows, enlarged elevators and restroom upgrades.

Construction of the capitol building began in 1904, at a cost of $1.82 million. Designed by architect Frank Mills Andrews and featuring a Beaux Arts-style, it replaced an earlier 1830 capitol building too small to house state government, but that still stands in downtown Frankfort.

Bernie Engelman, former construction project manager for the capitol, said in a previous news report that the design team laser scanned the dome and did a 3D model of the entire building, which had never been done before.

The dome project "is long overdue," said Gov. Andy Beshear (D). "The structural integrity has come into question, meaning we can no longer wait to do it.”

Making way for the project, the Kentucky legislature moved in early August to a 26,000-sq-ft, one-story temporary structure built on the capitol grounds, which will house House and Senate chambers and offices for leadership, staff and media.