West Virginia Department of Administration Story Archives

West Virginia Governor Rejects Parking Increase Proposal

Update from Jun. 21, 2018 at 5:41 p.m.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has quashed a proposal to raise parking rates for state employees.

The state Department of Administration proposed the increase June 11 as well as higher fines for some parking violations. The plan was to have been open for public comment for one month.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported on the proposal Tuesday, and Justice’s office said in a news release that he ordered it withdrawn as soon as he found out about it. The withdrawal is effective Thursday.

Monthly parking for state employees at the Capitol complex and all other off-campus locations with paid parking would have risen from $20 to $25. Fines for some parking violations would have also gone up, some more than doubling.

Original Post from Jun. 21, 2018 at 1:00 a.m.

A rule change has been proposed for West Virginia state employees that would increase the monthly parking cost by 25 percent.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the proposal was filed June 11 and is open to public comment through July 11.

Monthly parking for state employees at the Capitol complex and all other off-campus locations with paid parking would rise from $20 to $25. Fines for some parking violations would also go up. Parking in legislative spaces, parking in no-parking areas and improper parking would be subject to fines of $25, up from $10.

The fine for overtime parking at metered visitor parking spaces would increase from $5 to $10.

The current metered parking rate of 50 cents per hour would not increase.

Iconic Rotunda Chandelier Dismantled for Dome Restoration

For more than 85 years, the West Virginia Capitol building has housed the iconic crystal chandelier, illuminating the rotunda for generations of lawmakers and visitors who pass below — its presence a fixture in the statehouse.

But now, it’s been taken down.

Time and water damage has taken its toll over the years, corroding the wires that support the Capitol’s inner dome, making it sag. It’s not obvious, but the inner dome is actually a false ceiling suspended from cables, hanging between the main dome and the four thousand pound chandelier below.

“Part of the problem we’ve had with the dome; water as it rains does not necessarily stay on the outside of the dome,” noted John Myers, Secretary to the West Virginia Department of Administration, “It does come into the interior part. But there are drains made to take that water away; over a period of 60, 80, 100 years, those drains have deteriorated to the point that water is now leaking into the interior dome.”

A company called Acu-Bright specializes in chandelier cleaning and restoration. They’ve been charged to care for the fixture until it can be returned to its home under the dome.

“We’re gonna take off all the crystal panels; protect them, pack them up; take the framework apart, then we’re gonna take the inside of the body where all the lights and the framework that holds the lights out; then we’re gonna remove the column, take all those brass pieces out, take down the pipe, so now it’s ready for people to put up the scaffolding, and nothing will get damaged,” explained Keith Campbell, owner of Acu-Bright.

The crystal in the rotunda chandelier is known as Czechoslovakian crystal; a high quality glass that’s known for its brilliance but also lead content. The base component in crystal is silica, the same as in regular glass — but crystal is partially composed of lead oxide. This gives it greater clarity and sparkle.

The age and uniqueness of the rotunda chandelier’s more than ten thousand pieces make repair and replacement almost impossible.

“You just can’t get parts for these types of fixtures anymore,” Campbell noted.

Once Campbell’s team is done dismantling and packing up the chandelier, it will be transported to an undisclosed location where it will be examined, cleaned, rewired and stored until its return in two years.

Secretary Myers says the main rotunda will eventually be blocked off and scaffolding will be erected so that restoration can begin.

So for now, the rotunda is dark, lit by only a few work lights and scattered beams of sunlight from the porticoes above.

Below, lawmakers pass underneath, occasionally glancing up into the void where the chandelier used to be.

Special Thanks to John Myers, Secretary to the Department of Administration; Keith Campbell, President of Acu-Bright; William Barry, General Service Division; Diane Holley-Brown, Director of Communications, Department of Administration; and Perry Bennett, West Virginia Legislative Photography.

State Finds Group to Run Public Employees Day Care Center

West Virginia officials have found a group to run a day care center at the Capitol complex for children of public employees.

The Department of Administration says Discovery Kingdom Child Care will take over the West Virginia Public Employees Day Care Center.

Discovery Kingdom Child Care currently runs a child care center in Charleston with more than 100 children.

Kanawha County Schools has said it will stop operating the Capitol complex day care facility after Dec. 2. The Kanawha school system has been in charge since the center’s inception in 1992.

The change-over date will be determined during the transition period.

The center serves children from six weeks through five years of age.

State Awards $7.5M Contract for Capitol Buildings Project

West Virginia has awarded a $7,478,000 contract to demolish and rebuild four floors in two office towers that are part of the state Capitol complex.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the Department of Administration awarded the contract to Maynard C. Smith Construction Co., of Charleston, from among eight bidders for the contract to renovate Buildings 5 and 6.

The project will join a flurry of construction activity at the Capitol complex, including a $34 million renovation of Building 3 and a perimeter security project that includes a security fence around the governor’s mansion.

Completed in 1971, the two office towers are connected by Building 7, a two-story conference center. Until recently, the towers had not seen any significant renovation since their openings.