8/11/2019 Secrets of the Capitol, page 4 - The Patriot-News - Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014

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SECRETS OF THE CAPITOL SUNDAY PATRIOT-NEWSD4 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Some rooms have notorious reputations. Take B-02 inthe Irvis Office Building, for example.The basement room was alleged by state prosecutors to

have been the storage site for campaign and political ma-terials that belonged to former House Speaker John Perzel,who ended up in prison on public corruption charges.

Now this room is simply identified as a fan room.A similarly storied room exists on the top floor of the

Capitol building. It is identified as Room 626. Behind itsdoors is a suite of offices that former state Rep. Mike Veonused as a base of operation for campaign-related activitieshe ran out of the Capitol, according to testimony present-ed in his government corruption trial. He, too, went to

prison.

Room 626

FAR LEFT: A Civil Warmedal is on display atthe Treasury Vault. Warmedals cant be sold, sothe Treasury tries to findthe owners of the medalsto return them to thefamilies.

LEFT:The vault has acentral aisle that runsbetween a set of threerooms, called cages, on

each side. Each cagecontains 145 locked steeldrawers.

Gov. Richard Thornburgh(1979-1987)One thing I remember in particular was

the building of the addition to the Capitol,replacing what was then a dense parkinglot. It was an architecturally praised additionthat was consistent with the original designof the Capitol. I was also bowled over bythe artwork and the design of the Capitolbuilding, especially the Violet Oakley murals,which chronicle much of Pennsy lvaniashistory and honor a distinguished Pennsyl-vanian tradition.

Gov. Tom Ridge(1995-2001)In my office, I was surrounded by portraits

of previous governors. And that was a prettypowerful reminder of both the legacy ofmy job as well as the extraordinary servicea lot of other individuals had given to thecommonwealth. Also, I had this grand olddesk handmade. Handmade at a timewhen the government was much smaller. Itwas a large desk, and I was told that it wasdesigned so that all th e Cabinet [members] thats how large the desk was but howsmall the government was could sitaround the governors desk. It was a beauti-ful piece of work.

Gov. Mark Schweiker(2001-2003)Theres so much architectural beauty that

its hard to select my favorite aspects. Somany marvel at the magnificent ornatenessof both legislative chambers, and I do aswell, but perhaps my favorite is the Gover-nors Reception Room. The rooms wonderfulseries of paintings about the life of BucksCountian William Penn and the founding ofPennsylvania still resonate with me. Thoughmore than a century old, artist VioletOakleys works remain as powerful andinspirational as the day they were dedicatedin 1906.

Gov. Ed Rendell(2003-2011)

What I really love about

the Capitol are two par-ticular sites. I think theroom where the Houseof Representatives is, itsabsolutely a stunning,beautiful room. And thenthe rotunda. I loved doingthe press conferencesin the rotunda. Its a

beautiful room with the spiral staircases andall the other things that make it attractive.I especially liked doing the Christmastree-lighting there.

Gov. Tom Corbett(2011-present)When I reach the Governors Office, the

temptation is always strong to go in throughthe Governors Reception Room. There,on the upper walls, stretching all the wayaround the room, are the dazzling VioletOakley murals that tell the story of Penn-sylvanias founding, from the days of theearly Quakers in England to W illiam Pennsconversion, through his imprisonment,release and journey to the new colony thatwould become the Keystone State.

GOVERNORS MEMORIES

After years of trying to findwhere the bodies are buriedin the Capitol Complex, I finallythought I found them upon en-tering this room. But instead offinding bodies, I found lost andforgotten treasures.

The Treasury Vault, in the Fi-nance Building, is where $2 billionin unclaimed property is stored expensive-looking jewelry, antiqueclocks, war medals and highly

valuable baseball cards, among otheritems. Goods are held for three yearswhile efforts are made to locate theirowners. If unclaimed, they then aresold on eBay or at an auction.

Many items were left in aban-doned safety deposit boxes or cameout of police evidence lockers, vaultmanager Lindsay Caldonetti said.

The main door to the vault isbuilt from 60 tons of stainlesssteel. It has a powerful, automatedmechanism and can shut in15 seconds if necessary.

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK ...

WHERE DECISIONS ARE MADE

Many private, high-powered meetings involving leg-

islative leaders and governors in recent years havebeen at this table in a conference room down the hall fromthe governors office.

Undoubtedly, it has absorbed some fist pounding andhas had colorful words shouted across it. But the talks heldaround it also have given rise to negotiated agreements thatled to budget passages and major policy decisions.

The only things that get shared about what happensduring the big-table meetings are what those in atten-dance care to tell you afterward. Precise details often arehard to extract.

A sure-fire way to know if an important meeting is takingplace in this room is to look for a gaggle of reporters stand-ing around, poised to pounce on anyone who walks out.

THE HOUSE LIBRARY IN THE RYAN OFFICE BUILDING

The Ryan Office Building isthe oldest structure on Capi-tol Hill. Upon entering the build-ing, which houses legislativeoffices and support staff, a grandRenaissance-inspired stairwayleads to the House library.

However, its not the booksthat get noticed upon entering,but the imposing figure of Presi-dent Abraham Lincoln.

This 7-foot-2-inch statuestands in the center of what wasonce called the Historic RelicRoom when The State Museum

of Pennsylvania occupied thebuilding. Displayed behind it isthe state-commissioned paint-ing of The Battle of Gettys-burg, which complements theLincoln statue as the roomscenterpieces.

This painting was so large thatthe old Capitol had no place bigenough to properly display it,according to a preservation com-mittee booklet. When designingthis building, architect JohnWindrim made the room to fitthe painting.

WHAT THE CHIEF JUSTICE SEES

This historic courtroom features a lot of art on itswalls and ceiling, and the view from the chiefjustices seat provides the best vista of all.

Theres Violet Oakleys interpretation of the evolutionof law from antiquity until 1927, when the paintings werecompleted. There also are statues of philosophers sitting

in the chandeliers. The intriguing features in this roommake it a favorite stop on the public Capitol tour.

The artwork almost overshadows the beautiful domedstained glass overhead. That piece of art was a last-minute addition to the room.

According to the preservation committees historian,Jason Wilson, the stained glass was intended to go overthe House chamber. But by the time the decision wasmade to add a fifth floor to the building, the stained glasswas in production. Joseph Huston, the Capitol architect,decided to move it to the courtroom.

Its not visible from the Capitols exterior.Wilson said Huston decided to place an encased sky-

light atop it, allowing natural light to enter from the sidesbut not have it look so awkward rising above the roofline.

Ican thank the numerous lobbyists, legislative staffers andcitizen activists for the clutter on my desk, which, believeit or not, is cleaned off about once a year.

The Capitol newsroom is where many stories aboutlaws being passed, lawmakers going to jail, legislative

deals going bust and budgets being signed have beenwritten during the past century.

Many of the writers behind the stories are picturedin photographs that hang on the newsroom walls. Sincethose early days, the tools of the trade have changed.Stories no longer are phoned in. Computers have replacedtypewriters. And cellphones in many instances havereplaced landlines.

But one thing that hasnt changed is the Capitol report-ers desire to write stories that try to keep governmentofficials honest and to write even more stories about themwhen theyre not.

WHAT JAN SEES

INSIDE THE TREASURY VAULT

B-02 Irvis Office Building