Capitol beautification

Maine is setting a new standard of beauty as it refurbishes the seat of government in Augusta. The Capitol, always lovely as well as imposing since it was built in 1832, is taking on new grandeur. And the State Office Building, which for so long has set the standard for eyesores, is assuming a sort of beauty of its own.

In the Capitol, new doors and windows and woodwork and furniture and terra cotta moldings retain the traditional designs but incorporate such modernities as thermal panes and new communications systems. The redone office building keeps its 1950s art deco look but has new handrails and elevators to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

When Gov. King stood at the huge new gleaming conference table this week, a reporter reminded him that such beauties cost money, at a time of a budget shortfall running to $250 million. Mr. King made a zero with his thumb and forefinger and reported that the table cost the state not 1cent. It had been made in Maine and contributed free of charge. And an expensive railing recommended by the architects for the office building was replaced by a handsome Maine-made item at half the cost.

Although the Capitol project is running over budget, economies like that have kept the work on the office building within budget, so that commissioned art can come to 1.5 percent of the total project cost instead of the statutory 1 percent, according to the job boss, Gerald Nault of the Bureau of General Services. Nearing completion are works by Maine artists including paintings of Maine scenes, frescoes of Maine food products to decorate the walls of the spacious new cafeteria, wall quilts, and a 2-ton, 6-foot-by-20-foot clay bas relief of typical Maine men, women and children of all walks of life.

Landscaping will beautify the approaches outside, too, including trees and shrubbery and a grassy area where the two plain old education buildings are about to be torn down. The more large shrubbery in front of the old State Office Building, the better.

Let’s hope that the state’s example will point the way for more beauty in other new buildings, public and private, instead of more functional but unattractive state structures, clunky big-box stores and windowless supermarket fortresses. No one expects a lot of paintings and sculpture in the private buildings, but a little more beauty and landscaping would be appreciated.