The Capitol will be closed due to the earthquake until 2025

The central section of Salem’s most exclusive building is undergoing seismic renovations, but members of the public will still be able to meet lawmakers and attend sessions in person for 2023 and 2024.

The iconic Oregon Capitol Rotunda is among the sections of the building that are closed until 2025 for seismic renovations. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)

Salem’s most famous landmark has become largely closed to the public.

The central section of the Oregon State Capitol is outlawed starting July 1 and will not reopen until 2025.

Closing is slated to accommodate the final phase of the three-part Capitol Accessibility, Maintenance, and Safety project intended to upgrade the building, which was constructed in 1938. During closure, the building will see seismic improvements, accessibility improvements, and additional fire suppression systems.

A 2013 report by the Capitol Master Plan Review Committee stated that the Capitol could collapse in the event of an earthquake, putting the lives of the 235,000 people who visit each year as well as the roughly 400 employees at risk. On a daily basis, there are an estimated 1,000 people in the building.

The gift shop, rotunda, garage and visitor area will be closed for three years, but parts of the building will remain open to the public. Visitors will still be able to keep an eye on the Oregon legislature during the shutdown.

Hearing rooms A through F, 170 and 174 will remain in operation through the end of the 2024 legislative session as well as lawmakers’ offices and rooms.

“All the work the public wants to see will be up and running during the 2023 and 2024 legislature sessions,” said Judy Jones, project manager.

Jones said people will still be able to visit their representatives, attend hearings and all other public aspects of making laws. They won’t be able to enter through the front door.

The revolving doors that open into the iconic rotunda will be closed until the project is completed, with visitors instead being redirected to the entrances accessible north of either wings from the central building.

But students on school field trips, educational program participants, and tours will never enter the building – and these visits have been canceled until the end of the project. It’s a change these groups have gotten used to over the past two years with the Covid restriction programmes.

“Tours, tutorials, and Christmas programs will take place virtually,” Jones said. “It was developed during Covid-19 and they will just rely on that and those programs.”

The bright side, Jones said, is that students in eastern, central, and southern Oregon who often don’t have the opportunity to visit the Capitol, can now participate in almost every tour.

Jones said opening the building virtually and scheduling construction to allow public access during the legislative session pushed the project back by six months, but it was a conscious decision.

“We are going to completely remove the basement, the foundation on which this building sits,” Jones said, “when you talk about digging under the building, you can’t occupy it but we have found a way to work with our schedule and how we are doing the building so that we can make use of some public space for sessions 23 and 24 “.

This work includes upgrading the hearing rooms, adding fire sprinklers throughout the building, modifying the building with seismic updates and creating new public spaces including the foyer area.

When the public returns to the front doors in 2025, there will be two new staircases that lead to a café and four new listening rooms. The information booth will be moved to the south and there will be upgraded facilities and gender-neutral restrooms.

The third phase is the last of a multi-year project. Phase one addressed mechanical, electrical and plumbing issues, added two exit lanes and updated handicap access. Phase two saw additional accessibility work done on the two wings housing the legislatures and began to address seismic upgrades.

The final stage was earmarked for $375 million, which the legislature approved in May.

“We launched July 1st,” Jones said. “We expect to open floors 1-4 again at the end of 2024, so people will be back in the building and it will be business as usual for the 2025 session.”

Contact reporter Caitlyn May at [email protected].

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