Lawmakers return to old Capitol

Renovation spurs House move today

 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STATON BREIDENTHAL --6/17/14-- Lynn Fitzgerald of Soos Stained Glass in North Little Rock works Tuesday removing stained glass in the dome above the House chamber at the state Capitol. The glass is being removed and will be cleaned and repaired as part of the $1million restoration project of the chamber.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STATON BREIDENTHAL --6/17/14-- Lynn Fitzgerald of Soos Stained Glass in North Little Rock works Tuesday removing stained glass in the dome above the House chamber at the state Capitol. The glass is being removed and will be cleaned and repaired as part of the $1million restoration project of the chamber.

The House of Representatives will return to the Old State House today to tackle substantial legislation there for the first time in more than 100 years.

House and museum staff members say bringing the modern House to the pre-Civil War structure on Markham Street in Little Rock required creativity and making do with what's available. And few things will be as they were when the House departed in 1911.

The decision to hold the special session in the old Capitol, tucked between two hotels on the banks of the Arkansas River, came up during discussions between the governor's office and House staff. House members, who will address teacher insurance, prison crowding and electronic monitor games, can't hold the session in their chambers because of a renovation project.

When the House gavels in at 4 p.m., about half of the 100 members will be seated at replica desks crafted like those from the 1800s with the rest at white folding tables. House Speaker Davy Carter will sit behind a replica of President Bill Clinton's desk from the Oval Office, which is an old museum display item.

The space is usually open to the public and serves as the home of an exhibit on 19th-century Arkansas history called "On The Stump." House members, staff, reporters, lobbyists and the public will pour into the second-floor chamber, an overflow room and the balcony.

House spokesman Cecillea Pond-Mayo said the members would be giving up some of the usual trappings, such as individual microphones and electronic voting.

"We're going to do an old-school roll call -- one-by-one and recorded. Even though they don't have the electronic button at their seat ... the clerk will have a computer and will be entering in the vote electronically as we go along," Pond-Mayo said. The tally will be posted online.

She said there will be microphones for Carter, the clerk and at the well, the spot in the House where representatives speak on bills. The remaining members will share a handful of wireless microphones.

Some amenities available in the new Capitol will be offered at the Old State House. A conference room on the first floor will serve as Carter's office, and the old Arkansas Supreme Court chambers, which is used for educational programs, will provide a "quiet area" for legislators to get coffee.

House and museum staff members said one of their biggest challenges would have been completely foreign to members at the turn of the 20th century: making sure there was enough bandwidth so the session could be live-streamed on the Internet.

Georganne Sisco, the museum's education director, said staff members from the Bureau of Legislative Research and representatives from AT&T ran additional lines to the building to handle the increased needs. House staff members did final testing Friday.

Sisco said the museum staff was excited about lawmakers coming back to the Old State House.

"It's nice to have government back in our building, if just for a short period. It's another footnote in our great history," Sisco said.

The House will meet in the newer of two House chambers at the museum, which was added to the north side of the building in 1885. Sisco said many of the building's most interesting historical events happened across the hall in the House's 1836 chamber -- including the only murder of a member on the chamber floor.

In 1837, House Speaker John Wilson stabbed Rep. J.J. Anthony of Randolph County to death after he insulted the speaker during debate over a bill on wolf hides. Wilson's trial was moved to Saline County, where he was acquitted.

The old chambers were also the site of the first Joint Session in 1836, the secession conventions and the first debates of the state's Jim Crow laws after the Civil War, according to museum staff.

This week, the old chambers will be used as an overflow seating area, with room for about 150 observers.

The Legislature convened in the current Capitol after construction was completed in 1911 and the Arkansas Medical School moved into the Old State House. Shortly after the move, the school was the base for the "Crossett Experiment," which showed the importance of reducing the amount of standing water in an area to prevent malaria, Sisco said.

The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 in recognition of the experiment, which reduced the number of cases of malaria in the study area by 72 percent, according to its landmark listing.

Lawmakers returned to the Capitol in 1951 for a ceremonial gathering that honored former legislators. Thirty-two years later, then-Gov. Bill Clinton addressed a joint session of both chambers in the building and highlighted recent renovations.

Clinton stood on the steps of the Old State House in 1991 to announce his candidacy for president. He returned on election night in 1992 and 1996 to celebrate successful presidential campaigns.

Matt Rowe, a spokesman for the Old State House, said the museum has seen its fair share of crowds in recent years. He said one of the largest events was the 20th anniversary of Clinton's announcement. Hundreds of people attended the event, featuring a speech by Clinton and music by Chicago.

But Rowe said having legislators back in the building taking up "substantial legislation" for the first time in decades was an exciting opportunity, both for legislators and museum staff.

Metro on 06/30/2014

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