1920’s – The Rehabilitation Of Old Capitol.

In 1920, Old Capitol was celebrating her 80th birthday – and in all honesty – the old gal was truly showing her age.

As we discuss on other pages, the cornerstone for Iowa’s new capitol building was laid in place on July 4, 1840 – with the Territorial Governor Robert Lucas presiding over the event. Under normal circumstances, a limestone building of this size would have been a large undertaking for any city in the 1840’s. But, when you add in some of the other unforeseen complications – i.e. the architect & his team walking off the job nine days after the cornerstone was laid, or the severe Territorial cash shortage – the building wasn’t completed – as you see it below – until 1856 – one year before it was turned over to the State University of Iowa for educational use.

Between 1860 and 1900 – Old Capitol became the centerpiece for almost all of the educational activities of the State University of Iowa (SUI). Sadly, the State of Iowa provided very little funding during this time for on-going repairs and improvements, so by 1900 – **Central Hall** – as it was called at the turn-of-the-century – was one, pretty tired-looking facility.

This brings us to 1920, and finally, at the prompting of concerned citizens who saw the great need, the 39th Session of the Iowa Legislature (1921) was convinced to place $50,000 on the table for repairing, fireproofing, and rehabilitating Old Capitol. And, once the work started, it was quickly made evident that at least another $50,000 would be needed – so the 40th Iowa Legislature (1923) ponied up for that expense as well.

And so, beginning around June 1, 1921, the rehabilitation process on the old State House began in earnest. The first three educational buildings – Liberal Arts (Schaeffer), Natural Science (Macbride), and Physics (MacLean) were all in place and now, it was time to spruce up the campus hub – Old Capitol.

In the 1970’s, Old Capitol was closed for nearly six years as it underwent a complete restoration – with the entire building – room by room – being brought back to its original state. While structural improvements were made during the 1970’s project – the emphasis was on restoring Old Capitol’s historical characteristics. You can read more here. In the 1920’s – on the other hand – while history was not ignored – the emphasis was to rehabilitate the building – making it functional for everyday use as SUI’s administration building.

At this point, I want to turn this Old Capitol Rehabilitation story over to an article written by Bruce E. Mahan in 1924 as it appeared in the Old Settlers Association (OSA) Yearbook. As I see it, you might enjoy reading – from Mahan’s perspective – all that went on behind the scenes as the rehabilitation work progressed. Fortunately, Iowa City’s famed photographer – Fred W. Kent – took lots of pictures throughout this season and we’ll share some of those with you as well. So, here we go…

Notice that in 1924, Mahon used the word “restored” which, at the time, defined the work that had been approved. It wasn’t until the 1970’s, when the true difference between a historic restoration and a functional rehabilitation became much more evident. As we said earlier, the goal in the 1970’s was restore Old Capitol and as a result, in 1976 – she was placed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks. Read more here.

*You can read more about the historic day – July 4, 1840 – when the cornerstone was laid.*

*Read more about Old Capitol’s rare reverse spiral staircase.*

Over the first 60 years, the second floor of Old Capitol – once completed – had been used for dozens of different purposes – from large chamber rooms for the Iowa House and Senate, to a variety of classrooms, to being the home of the SUI School of Law and the Law Library.

The West Portico – which was originally planned but never built – became a major project in the 1920’s rehabilitation. Included in that project – and completed by 1927 – was a complete renovation of the West Lawn as well.

In June 1924, the SUI graduating senior class presented a bronze tablet commemorating the completion of the 1921-1924 renovations of Old Capitol.

In a short article appearing in the 1922 Old Settlers’ Association (OSA) Yearbook, the editor updated the OSA readers on the progress of the rehabilitation project. He closed with these words…

*(L-0125) **The West Front Lawn** hosts its first ceremony with Old Capitol’s new West Portico looking on!* This very rare commemorative poster – measuring 33″ x 20″ – was produced by The Des Moines Register and features the **October 1, 1925** **SUI Induction Ceremony** held in front of the Physics Building (MacLean Hall) on the Pentacrest. Read more here.

*Here is an aerial photo of that same October 1, 1925 student induction ceremony!*

On July 1, 1976, The Iowa City Press-Citizen published a special 76-page Bicentennial edition. In that edition there were articles and pictures related to stories found on this page. Click here to check it out.