King to return to State House

AUGUSTA – Months after being displaced from his State House office while a major renovation took place, Gov. Angus King moves back to spruced-up surroundings after the Martin Luther King Day holiday.

Aides on Sunday were busy unpacking cartons and organizing freshly painted, newly carpeted executive offices to get ready for the new legislative session to move into full swing.

“It’s back to normal pretty much,” King spokesman Tony Sprague said as he took a break from moving-day chores. “We’re getting there.”

King has been using offices in Blaine House and in another 19th century residence across the street known as the McLean House since renovations began in the West Wing of the State House where his semicircular office is located.

The $32 million State House renovation, which has run several million dollars over budget, is its first since 1910-11.

If the overhaul wasn’t enough reason to move King out, dynamite blasts a floor under his office made the temporary move obligatory.

With the work nearly complete Sunday, the governor’s office had a richer, more formal look that is also more historically authentic.

An old, false ceiling has been removed and replaced by a suspended “cloud” in which lighting fixtures are located. Renovations on Sunday were less complete in the Cabinet Room that adjoins the governor’s office.

As if to signal that the work is about to wrap up, a huge, temporary wall that has blocked off the West Wing from the central portion of the domed State House during months of construction was removed this weekend.

King has stayed in the background through much of the construction, saying he considers himself nothing more than a tenant of the state’s most public building.

But the governor has taken a personal interest in part of the project, and commissioned construction of a new Maine-made conference table for the Cabinet Room, where he meets with department heads and holds news conferences.

The 18-by-7-foot table is being built from bird’s eye maple, maple and yellow birch in a converted barn in the western Maine town of Industry. The wood is from a forest managed to meet environmental standards.

Private contributions will cover the $10,000 cost of the table, which features a Maine map centerpiece.

The table is being produced through the cooperative efforts of woodworkers associated with Maine WoodNet, which helps small firms through collaborative manufacturing and marketing.

King and his staff made some suggestions on the table’s design. And King offered to help work on the table after it is moved from Industry to Wilton for finishing, said Chris Krauss, coordinator of Maine WoodNet.

The table is to be formally presented to King on Jan. 31.