Justin A. Hinkley

Lansing State Journal

LANSING – By fall 2017, the Michigan Capitol building could see a new $88 million Welcome Center and a new park on its west lawn in what would be the biggest renovation to the statehouse and grounds in 22 years.

Under the plan announced Tuesday by the Michigan State Capitol Commission, all visitors to the Capitol — there are some 150,000 tourists and schoolchildren who come every year — will enter through the west side of the Capitol off North Walnut Street. They'll enter a new facility that will include a cafeteria, a large committee room, new "education briefing rooms" and enhanced security measures, according to a news release from the commission, which oversees the building.

The parking lot on the statehouse's west side will be moved underground and replaced by a park, as envisioned by the 135-year-old statehouse's architect, Elijah Myers.

"This planned welcome center will provide a better and more secure way for visitors to enter the building," Carol Viventi, co-chair of the commission, said in the news release.

Officials could break ground on the project as early as this summer.

The Welcome Center was originally discussed as part of the last major renovation to the Capitol, completed in 1992, but never happened.

The work can be funded now thanks to a new, $3 million annual budget established this year for Capitol renovations and upkeep. Before the law setting aside a portion of tobacco tax revenue was passed this summer, upkeep depended on the yearly whim of legislators.

With a yearly budget set, the commission can seek bonds through the Michigan Strategic Fund to be repaid with tobacco taxes, said John Truscott, a Lansing public relations executive and member of the commission.

The benefits of the Welcome Center are many, officials said.

The first is safety, Truscott said, because the Welcome Center will allow security officials to see everyone entering the building. In the event of an emergency, schoolchildren will have one area to regroup.

The Capitol is a remarkably accessible government building, and officials said it would remain so, even with the changes.

Another benefit: redirecting some of the visitor traffic will reduce wear-and-tear on the building, "which will help with preservation efforts," Gary Randall, commission co-chair, said in the release.

And the project "is the continuation of a plan that was developed 30 years ago, so it's exciting to see it moving ahead," said former Gov. John Engler, who led the state during the Capitol's last major renovation.

The state Capitol building opened on Jan. 1, 1879 and was built for $1.5 million. It was one of the first state capitols modeled after the U.S. Capitol and architect Myers went on to design capitol buildings for other states. Michigan's Capitol was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992, and the restoration completed that year won the nation's highest preservation award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.