Buildings represent the ability of people to create their own space separate from the outer environment and represent security, safety and permanence. Domes within buildings are often used to demonstrate freedom, pursuit of higher ideals, and equity. The structures are free from apparent support, lift the eye upward, and appear equally pleasing from all points below. Tie in gold plating on the exterior bringing value and beauty, and the perfect symbolism for government structures results.
The most influential dome in Western architecture dates back to the Ancient Romans. The Pantheon, completed in 126 AD, is the oldest public building in continuous use. Since the 7th century it has been a Catholic Church. Domes have continued to be an architectural favorite for much of the world with variations from the perfect half sphere to onion-shape and other bulbous shapes. Thomas U. Walter and August Schoenborn, the architects of the current dome portion of the US Capitol building, were inspired by many of the European Cathedrals including St. Paul’s in London, and St. Peter’s in St. Petersburg in Russian.
In America, many of the states have domed government buildings, modeled after the US Capitol. But being a nation of states that chose independently to join the union, many of them also chose different government building styles. About 15 or 16 do not have domes. Of the remaining with domes, several of them use materials native to the state itself for construction materials.
Only ten of the states use gold leaf on a large exterior domed surface for their state capitol buildings. Six are in the original 13 colonies, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Vermont. West Virginia also sports a gold dome on its capitol building. The gold dome in Iowa shines alone in the Midwest while the Rocky Mountains are reflected in the domes of Colorado and Wyoming.
Maintaining gold domes is expensive and difficult. Gold doesn’t react with oxygen in the atmosphere so it doesn’t corrode. Copper domes do form a layer of copper oxide giving it the characteristic green patina. Gold does react with nitrides and sulfides, two components of smog. Dirt also accumulates on the surface and hail storms can batter the thin gold layer.
A large part of the expense is in the cost of the gold itself. 24K gold is pounded into very thin sheets and cut into tiny squares which are pounded into the base metal layer of the dome. Modern milling techniques have decreased the thickness the gold leaf, reducing costs. The surface area, to be covered, increases with the size of the dome. Georgia’s dome requires about 20 ounces (that’s the equivalent of $34,000) to recover while Wyoming requires a single ounce ($1,700). The use of gold on the Colorado dome has decreased from 200 ounces when first applied to 72 ounces when it was last restored in 2011 ($122,400).
Gold for the Colorado dome was supplied from a Colorado gold mine. Many of the states simply use gold from the gold market. The gold market incorporates gold recycled from the industrial sector and refined from consumer usage. Glitterbug gold sellers sell into this gold market at prices based on the spot gold market. Perhaps an old ring of yours will end up on the dome of a prominent government building someday!
