Arizona State Capitol

Arizona State Capitol

Arizona State Capitol is located in Phoenix, America. Historically, the capitol is considered a last home for the States’ colonial government which was disbanded in the year 1912. In the same year, Arizona was recognized formally as a state by the federal government. Originally, all the branches of the new government used the four floors of the building as offices for conducting state affairs. However, the three government branches relocated to other neighboring buildings as the state expanded. Today, Arizona Capitol Museum maintains the portion of the building constructed in 1901. In this way, the state authorities can connect residents to their historic past.

Arizona state capitol is constructed out of materials such as granite, malapai, and copper dome, which are indigenous to the state. The designers optimized it for Arizona’s desert climate, for instance, the legislative chambers has a round clerestory to vent out heat. Additionally, thick masonry walls insulate the Capitol’s interior. Besides, a wind vane that resembles Samothrace tops the building and is can be seen from within the rotunda.

Arizona State Capitol was created to demonstrate the readiness of the territory for statehood.  James Gordon Riely won a design contest with an original plan whereby the Capitol was larger as compared to the adopted design. The reason for the scaling down of building size was frequent funding deficits. As a result, the legislators discarded inclusion of wings in the plan and instead endorsed a small lead alloy as a substitution for the proposed decorative dome.

Fort Whipple near Prescott was the original territorial capital of Arizona. However, in 1867, the colonial government moved the capital to Tucson and later in 1889 to Phoenix. Later in the year, the construction of the Capitol building began. It took approximately 1 year for it to be completed at a cost of $ 136, 000. During February 1901, the governor dedicated it s a State Capitol until 1977 when it was designated a museum. In the year 1938, the west side of the Capitol was expanded from the original square footage of 38, 000 to approximately 122, 000. Until 1916, the additional area served as the legislative house until late 1960.  Today, state businesses are no longer conducted at the museum, though the Governor’s Office was operational by 1977. The building was restored in and re-opened in 1980as a museum.

After a decade, the state spent $3 million to renovate the rooms and to restore the Capitol to its original design, but stopped on the third floor because of budget deficits. Today, the fourth floor and some rooms on the third floor are yet to be renovated. On a positive note, the National Register lists Arizona State Capitol as one of the most valuable historic places in the United States.  In the year 2010, the State Department of Administration in Arizona announced that the private investors have acquired the surrounding state buildings which include state structures like two flanking legislative buildings and the tower.

Arizona State Capitol has become increasingly crowded over the years due to the growing population of area residents. Consequently, the conditions of House buildings and the senate are deteriorating since 1960. Particularly, plumbing issues plague the Senate grounds because occasionally, water piper break up thus flooding the entire structure. Currently, the Capitol is utilized exclusively as a museum and an average of 60, 000 tourists visit the structure annually, half of whom are school children. Furthermore, the museum authorities have received multiple complaints that the site of the Capital buildings is not aesthetically pleasing. In fact, experts argue that House and Senate buildings are oversized, thus eclipsing Capitol’s beauty. In the year 2007, the state legislature was prompted to appoint a taskforce that later recommended rebuilding of the Capitol because it does not meet the current needs of the state. The proposal is currently under review for development of a site that address the needs of Arizona government more adequately.

Arizona State Capitol Museum

The museum located in the structures if the state capitol focuses on the state’s evolution from a colonial territory. Moreover, it is themed on how the residents affect state activities through civic engagement. The constitution of Arizona was authored in the Historic House Chamber. Besides, a room exist within the State Capitol dedicated to 150 constitutional changes conducted within a century of Arizona’s existence as a state. In the second floor, a waxed figure of George Hunt (first governor of Arizona) hangs on the wall next to a Roughriders’ flag.

            Furthermore, a copper and silver punchbowl from USS Arizona are on display. A bronze sculpture is found within the Admiral’s stateroom to symbolize a location where USS Arizona used to dock. While USS Arizona was sunk during Pearl Harbor disaster, some historical artifacts survived and are on display today at Arizona State Capitol. Other valuables include gifts received by the state from France as part of the Merci Train during the aftermath of the Second World War.

Arizona House of Representatives

The House of Representatives in Arizona is the lower house if the state’s legislature. The members are subject to re-election for four consecutive terms each having two years. Currently, the Republicans are the majority.  The state of Arizona has 30 legislative districts. Each of them selects two house representatives. There are a few states in America that use Multi-member districts protocol similar to Arizona House of Representatives namely Idaho, North Dakota, New Jersey, and Washington House of Representatives. Therefore, this system us less common as compared to a singe-member district that most American state legislatures use. Each member of the House represents an upwards of 170, 000 individuals. Moreover, the representatives convene in Arizona State Capitol legislative chambers located in Phoenix (Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, 2011). 

The majority party caucus elects the speaker (the leader of the House) subject to confirmation of the representatives through a House resolution. Being a chief leader, the speaker controls the flow of committee assignments and legislation besides presiding over the body. On the other hand, respective party caucuses elects other house leaders including the minority and majority leader as per the strength of parties in chamber.

In Summary, Arizona State Capitol is more than a century old. The structure served both as a home to the colonial government of Arizona and as the offices of the state government. Over the years, the building has undergone renovation, but is no longer used to conduct government activities.

Reference

Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records. (2011). Under The Copper Dome: The Arizona Capitol, 1898-1974. Phoenix, Ariz: Museum Division of Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records.