Washington’s grand Legislative Building is staring down more than $1 million in repair and conservation work after a late-night break-in left scorch marks, smashed windows and a battered historic rug at the heart of the State Reception Room. Two state panels this week backed the most expensive restoration blueprint on the table, a package that focuses on bringing a nearly century-old wool rug as close as possible to its pre-damage condition while also tackling teak floor refinishing, singed drapery and toppled bronze busts. None of that work can actually begin until insurance money arrives or lawmakers pony up more cash, so for now the timeline is anyone’s guess.
Panel backs top-shelf restoration plan
The State Capitol Committee and the Capitol Campus Design Advisory Committee voted to support the highest-cost option, pegged at about $959,000 to conserve the rug and roughly $240,000 just to ship it to New York for specialized treatment, according to The Seattle Times. Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, making the case that this was about more than décor, told the committee, “It ain’t just a rug,” arguing that the piece is an irreplaceable work of art central to the character of the reception room.
How the Capitol took a hit
The costly cleanup traces back to a late-night Oct. 5 break-in at the Legislative Building. An intruder smashed a window, roamed through public rooms and set fires that, along with smoke, left burn marks on the historic rug and other objects, according to reporting by the Spokesman-Review. Since then, crews and conservators have been painstakingly cataloging smoke, heat and lighter-fluid contamination as they map out options for repairs.
What has been fixed so far, and what it costs
Department of Enterprise Services (DES) cost estimates show a small slice of the work is already done or firmly in the queue. Refinishing the toppled George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr. bronze busts is expected to run about $5,500 apiece, repairing the damaged Blüthner piano another $5,500 or so, and fixing chipped marble in the rotunda roughly $4,200. Together, those committed items land just north of $20,000. The big money is tied to the rug, along with drapery and floor work, which pushed the advisory committees’ preferred package past the $1 million mark, according to The Olympian.
Who pays: insurance, lawmakers, or both
Lawmakers already set aside $250,000 for repairs this year, but DES officials say they expect insurance to shoulder most of the restoration tab if the claim is approved. An insurance adjuster inspected the damage in late May, and officials had hoped for a coverage decision in early July. By the time the panels met, that answer still had not arrived, DES leaders told local outlets. In the meantime, DES chief operating officer Jo Aiken said the agency is “continuing to be as irritating as we can” to push insurers for a timely response, according to KUOW.
Second strike tests new security
Officials say the Capitol’s new security measures, installed after the October incident, were put to the test in early June. A man shattered more than a dozen windows but never made it inside because a protective film applied to the glass after the first attack kept the panes from giving way, according to the Department of Enterprise Services. Even so, that follow-up scare has renewed calls from state officials to beef up funding for campus security.
Rug on ice while Olympia waits
The advisory panels have now handed their recommendations to budget writers and conservation specialists, but DES says full-scale restoration will not move forward without insurance reimbursement or additional legislative appropriations. For now, the rug at the center of the debate sits rolled up in the State Reception Room in a carefully controlled environment, while custodians monitor temperature and humidity to stave off mold and other secondary damage while the money question gets sorted out.
Case crawls through the courts
The person arrested after the Oct. 5 break-in has been identified in reporting as a 29-year-old suspect. Prosecutors have filed charges of second-degree burglary and third-degree malicious mischief, and the criminal case has been put on hold while a court evaluates whether the defendant is fit to stand trial, according to The Olympian. DES says it has provided investigative material and detailed damage estimates to law enforcement and prosecutors as part of the case file.
