BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Visitors to the Louisiana Capitol will soon be able to walk through the building's front doors again, after nearly three years of closure. But the entrance will look different.
WBRZ-TV reports the 86-year-old building is getting a new covered walkway.
The walkway likely will clash with the Capitol's heralded Art Deco architecture. But it will allow people to safely walk up the front steps protected from the threat of bits of mortar falling from the 34-story facade.
A team of workers spent months this year repairing mortar and restoring limestone on the building's first six floors.
Louisiana Division of Administration spokesman Jacques Berry says the walkway will protect visitors until the state can afford to finish repairs, estimated to cost another $80 million.
Lawmakers have not approved that additional funding.
