Madison - Officials charged with overseeing the state Capitol Friday backpedaled sharply from their estimate - delivered in a high-profile court case only the day before - that demonstrators did more than $7 million in damage to the building and grounds during the tumultuous yet peaceful protests that erupted Feb. 15.

Touring the building on Friday morning with state architect Dan Stephans, who oversaw the Capitol's restoration that concluded in 2001, Jeff Plale said he had not immediately observed any damage from demonstrations over Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill. Plale is a former Democratic state senator and now the state facilities administrator.

Plale said that the state had not yet received any quote from an experienced contractor on the full cost of assessing and repairing any damages - something that outside experts said would be needed to legitimately estimate expenses.

"No one knows what the true number is going to be. There's going to have to be a thorough assessment of the Capitol. Any number that's given now is going to be someone's best guesstimate," said Jim Draeger, the deputy state historic preservation officer.

Draeger said he had no part in calculating the damage figure provided Thursday by Walker's administration.

It was Cari Anne Renlund, chief legal counsel for the Department of Administration, who said in court Thursday that costs for a full cleanup and restoration at the Capitol could reach $7.5 million.

"It's important to note that the $7.5 million described yesterday (Thursday) in court was the information I had available to me based upon estimates provided me by the Division of State Facilities," said Michael Huebsch, secretary of the Department of Administration, during a news conference.

That would be Plale's division.

But on Friday, Plale said "I think that's more of a worst-case scenario."

Later Friday, the administration provided a memo saying the $7.5 million estimate had been done by Stephans after consulting with a specialist in building restoration and an employee of J.P. Cullen & Sons Inc., the contracting firm that handled the massive $145 million Capitol restoration completed in 2001.

The Journal Sentinel made an open records request Friday for any original state documents - produced before the statements were made in court - that detailed how state officials arrived at the $7.5 million estimate.

State officials did not immediately provide any such documents.

The questions about inflated damage estimates came a day after a Dane County judge ordered the Capitol cleared of protesters at night and reopened to the public during the day.

The seat of state government moved a little closer to normal Friday, with visitors and protesters once again allowed in, subject to certain restrictions. Demonstrators left peacefully Friday evening at the 6 p.m. closing, singing: "So long, see you tomorrow."

But the new normal still looked different. Officers were stationed at two public entries - the only ones now open - and used metal detecting wands as visitors made their way into the Capitol.

"For the foreseeable future, there is a desire to maintain that level of security," Huebsch said.

The Administration Department said the state might be able do a cleanup and "very limited restoration" of the statehouse and grounds for $347,500, if outside specialists are not required to do the work.

Tim Donovan, a spokesman for the department, said the state self-insured its buildings but did carry so-called excess policies for certain losses. Donovan was unable to say late Friday whether the excess policies would cover any possible damage in this case.

Nick Carnahan, a Wisconsin native, does architectural work on renovations and restorations of historic buildings, including one recent project on a federal building that involved marble repair. Carnahan, who is familiar with the Capitol but has not visited it in recent days because he lives in Seattle, noted that the $7.5 million estimate cited would be enough to pay several skilled laborers to do cleanup for years.

"The numbers that came out yesterday from the state just didn't make any sense at all," he said. "It just seemed very exaggerated."

Marble and tape

In court Thursday, officials with the Walker administration said that damage from the demonstrations to the marble would cost $6 million for damage inside the Capitol, $1 million for damage outside and $500,000 for additional expenses. State officials made the claim as they were arguing their case for restricting public access to the statehouse.

A section of the memo written by Stephans provided an explanation for the $7.5 million estimate. It said that 240,000 square feet of the Capitol might need to be cleaned or repaired at a cost of $25 per square foot for a total cost of $6 million. The memo also estimated that there might be $1 million in work needed on the Capitol grounds to re-sod grass, replace 44 shrubs and fix "possible damage" to the irrigation system.

But, the memo notes, "This is nothing more than an educated guess."

Stephans said Friday that certain kinds of tape can leave lasting residues on the marble and wood surfaces of the Capitol if the tape is not removed properly.

The statehouse, he said, has 43 kinds of stone and the chemistry of those marbles and of different kinds of tape can interact differently. The longer the tape remains in place, the greater the chance for some effect, he said.

Many of the papers and banners posted in the statehouse were put up using painter's tape, which is employed to minimize effects on walls. Stephans said Friday he had ordered that tape sent to the Capitol during the demonstrations to minimize effects on the building.

On Friday, some of the tape and fliers had already been removed. In one second-floor hallway at least, no perceptible damage to the marble appeared where the tape had been removed.

But Draeger said marble is also very porous, allowing adhesives from tape to potentially be absorbed into the stone and do damage that might not be apparent immediately. He said he walked through the Capitol during the height of the protests and was struck by the number of papers and signs.

"It kind of made my heart sink really to walk in and see all that tape up on the walls," Draeger said.

Draeger said that damage can be difficult to detect right away and that even just estimating it could get expensive. His own "rough, ballpark estimate" of what a professional expert might charge to do a full assessment of possible damage was $100,000, he said.

The Friday memo by Stephans estimated the cost of a full damage assessment at $60,000 for just the interior and up to $500,000 for an assessment of the inside and outside of the Capitol.

Lawmaker tackled

Normally, lawmakers can get in the Capitol 24 hours a day, but on Thursday Rep. Nick Milroy (D-South Range) was tackled to the ground as he tried to enter the building after 6 p.m.

"I think the officer that took me to the ground was too aggressive in his approach," Milroy said in a Friday news conference.

He acknowledged Friday he himself had also been aggressive in trying to get into the building.

Milroy, displaying an ID that showed he was a legislator, was tackled by a Two Rivers police officer just outside the Capitol as he tried to get in. A video of the incident shows Milroy getting up after he was taken to the ground and shouting at the officer, "I need to get clothes in my office!"

Milroy was let in the building a few minutes later through a different entrance. Milroy said he apologized to the officer and was not seeking an apology back.

Huebsch said, "Rep. Milroy was using his own political agenda to try and get arrested, to gain access in an unauthorized manner and simply I believe to try and make a point that he could get himself arrested."

Milroy, who was not arrested or cited, called Huebsch's claim "a bunch of hogwash." He said that he identified himself as a state representative to police officers and showed them his state-issued identification badge.

Milroy said the high security is not needed and blamed the situation on communication breakdowns that occurred because dozens of law enforcement agencies are involved in protecting the Capitol. Officers from across Wisconsin have been assigned to the job.

Members of the public entered the Capitol without appointments and some protested and once again chanted. But they could no longer carry in items such as sleeping bags and noisemakers and they were barred from taping up new signs.

Virginia McKenna of Madison came to the Capitol with her son and parents to show support for unions. She said her bag was searched and she went through a metal detector screening but was able to enter without waiting in line.

"I think that's important," McKenna, 34, said of the Capitol being open again for her. "I was surprised that it was closed."