The following is an account from a restoration journal; it is based on
impressions and not anything of record

Never before had I experienced in America such in depth beauty of masonry
materials all under one roof;
 Iv'e worked on a few; Rockerfeller Center;Carnegie; St; John;Grand Central;
Ellis; Borough Hall ;The Lourve;Yale; Phila.City Hall embassies and churches
too numerous to mention  and that dosen't include pilgrimages to some of the
worlds most holy stone sights; grand Mosques; temples in stone from the Greek
gods to the great circles and labyrinths.
Im not sure of Goodhue's intent here; it is a work deep in the arcane ; it
has all the symbolism of the sacred grounded in "Nebraska Gothic" The ground
floors were for the seats of government; the upperfloors were meant to be a
grand archival ; holding the akashic record of Nebraska's history; Goodhue
and several artisans( Lorilee;Hildreth) and aided by some of the top
mythological scholars of the day; designed and implemented a holy temple
meant to rival the grand library of Alexandria that was one of the worlds 8
wonders; they very well may have achieved it here.
.
The Neb state capital for masonry craftsmenship stands I believe(my opinion)
as one of the marvels of America.This truely is an experience rich in inlays
and mosaics and interpetive carving.Refered to sometimes as "collective" in
style; it is a personal trasformative experience bordering on the religious
if your into stone.

Some years ago when I was doing marble work on our embassy in Athens [Gropius
sp?) I had the chance to visit much of Greece and the temples of antiquity;
similiar work took me to North Africa and some esteemed Moslem mosques;I
would say that the carefull thought put into this building parrales some of
those great structures; but in style it is truly closest to( for my humble
one eye) is Byzantine;....
 Complete with the Gustavino groin vaulting;and polycromate inlay tile
ceilings;depicting sacred symbols of the plains indains.
There are onyx windows and onyx balstrades; domes of glittering inlay and
coffered ceilings of oak The central tower has  " Delphic"floors in
geometrics of Vt. Green;Tenn Marble;Minn lime(beautifull)Belgian
black;Botticcia ; and a curious red that might be from Colo. The collumns are
French and Italian; and a stone from Oklahoma that looks like the milkyway
graces some of the senate rooms..
"Athenia" with corn graces the central floor in exquisite inlay;complete with
a labyrinth from Chartes and Delphi... surrounding her are the four
elements;also in inlay the size and perspective to be viewed from many floors
up.
The central ceiling holds the sacred of sacred; the elohiem; the eight angles
of.. justice law.... prosperity .equality....ect ect (Hildreth Meijne studio
NYC} comlete in sacred buffalow robes;The borders are all in  stone detail;
and all the plains tribes are represented here in style and sybolism; Omaha;
Lakotai; Souix nation; pawnee ect.
You want to go barefoot; as you can eat off the floors as they are so
polished and neat;no gum wrappers in the corners here; as a bevy of Aryan
secretaries move about pertly in low slung heels and smartly arched eyebrows
with the shoulder sweaters draped dangerously over bare shoulder driving my
french team into a feeding frenzy;of classic gaul eye contact and body
language."Here we go again" I mutter.
Politically;from a work standard
 I feel like I haven't entered a state capital; I feel like I'M in a page out
of the court of the Grand Vizar; where  the monks and the enuchs pad merrily
around silently through these glorious halls and chambers aiding the
sentorians in great decisions of responsibility; My visit to one high
official wasn't much different than Dorthy's visit to the great Oz with large
gothic offices and long entrances  where you are left standing in front of
huge oak desks to get a dressing down for your creating dust in the palace of
Il Duce .This is not to mimalize the supuerb care that has gone into this
place;: but as I watch the unison of adams apples go up and down on these
officials in hard hats I can tell Im a long way from Kansas Toto.I can tell
there will be as much paperwork here as there will be work and there will be
meetings about the next meeting; may God save us from ourselves ..Michael...
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