(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/17/2024) Monday's Michigan State Capitol Commission meeting was centered largely around summer construction projects - of which there will be many.  

Among the projects anticipated to be started and completed during the summer months while the Legislature is on summer recess are the Senate's elevator, the House's second floor chamber bathrooms, the House's lighting fixtures, the Heritage Hall carpet and the pediment lighting outside the Capitol building.  

Capitol Commission Executive Director Rob Blackshaw said among the more "invasive" of the projects is fixing the lighting fixtures on the pediments, or the triangular architectural shapes on the outside of the building that are lit up at night.  

Blackshaw said the most prominent pediment on the east side of the building, the one in the center, is continually losing light in its north corner.  

Multiple less invasive attempts to replace the fixture have been unsuccessful, Blackshaw said, and the next solution is removing the electrical wiring, tucked above the fourth floor, and replacing the entire electrical supply.  

"At this point, we're 100 percent confident that's what it is," he said. 

Blackshaw said that unfortunately, previous upgrades to the area didn't include a conduit or a hatch to access it, which he said will be added this time when the ceiling is opened up to make future potential repairs easier.  

"Now it's a matter of just getting to the conduits, pulling the wiring back out and back in," he said.  

This project will include a crane on the northeast quadrant of the Capitol building, he said, which will be parked in the middle of July. 

"There won't be as many folks seeing it," he said, "but it will be invasive."  

Blackshaw said other projects beginning in July include the Senate's elevator construction project, which will begin on July 8 and is expected to be completed by the end of August.  

He said the timeline had been shortened by ordering all the parts in advance and storing them in the Commission's warehouse.  

Blackshaw said he doesn't believe the project should interfere with legislative session dates, and neither should construction on the House's second floor bathrooms, located within the chamber.  

The project kickoff meeting last week established a planned start also on July 8, and an end date of August 30.  

"I compare this project to what we did on the third floor restrooms last year, and it really includes installing fiberglass sleeves in historical piping, updating the fixtures (and) updating the cabinetry," he said, "and we will do our best to section it off, keep it clean. We know they're going to enter that project from the second floor east wing, right under the fire stairs, so they should never really have to go through the chamber or the front doors, which is our goal."  

 Blackshaw said that while in the House chamber, his team is also planning to switch out the House TV lighting from gas-permitting fixtures to LEDs, similar to work that was done in the Senate last summer. He said he has yet to receive complaints about the Senate side.  

Finally, Blackshaw said the summer construction projects will conclude with the recarpeting of Heritage Hall, removing the original carpet that has "never really lived up to its hype."  

The replacement project will begin in mid-July and should finish by the middle of August, and includes replacing the carpet with a better quality alternative and adding some hard flooring around it.  

While the project is underway, Blackshaw said the lighter flow of summer tours will be redirected to the north orientation room on the ground floor, "just like the old days.  

"We think this will really keep the folks away from any of the dust and the smells that are creating during this project," he said. "There won't be anything toxic smelling down there, but anytime there's paint smells or varnishes or anything that's out of the ordinary, people seem to get alarmed about it."