Colorado Lawmakers Get First Peek At New Digs

DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers returning to work Wednesday have spiffier digs. The opening of the 2015 session marked return to business after years of renovations.

The gold-leafed Capitol Dome is now absent the scaffolding that enveloped it for years. Colorado finished work in October on three years of repairs to the 19th-century iron structure.

The inside of the Capitol has a new look, too. The House and Senate chambers have been restored to an older version, with unsightly sound-proofing paneling removed from the walls. The Senate now has walls painted red, and the House has walls painted green.

And many lawmakers have new offices. A communal office for minority senators has been converted to a committee hearing room, with new offices open across the street for those who don't have Capitol offices.

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