Capitol Architect Defends $700K Doors Installed On Statehouse
Architect Defends Statehouse Doors
(CBS) – The state architect overseeing the Illinois Capitol renovation– including its controversial copper-clad doors -- installed at a cost of nearly $700,000 – is firing back at critical comments made by Gov. Pat Quinn.
Architect Richard Alsop III answered questions briefly Friday following a Capitol Architect Board meeting, WBBM Newsradio's Dave Dahl reports.
"The governor makes it sound like we've got a rogue architect that needs to be, in his words, 'reigned in,'" Alsop says. "What doesn't the governor understand about the process?"
He says the $50 million renovation effort is controlled by Quinn's executive branch. Alsop adds that several players signed off on the overall project to revamp the historic Statehouse in Springfield.
The four-member board issued a statement saying the items getting attention now are a fraction of the entire project, supported by a 2009 major-construction plan, Illinois Jobs Now.
Critics earlier this month took issue with the set of copper doors, saying the material is extravagant at a time when the state is broke and regular Illinoisans are struggling.
