New York State Capital
Albany, New York – Restoration Masterplan

The New York State Capitol Building in Albany was built between 1867 and 1899 and reflects the work of several prominent architects of the last half of the 19th Century, including Thomas Fuller, Leopold Eidlitz, and Henry Hobson Richardson. In the late 1970’s the State of New York recognized the need for a comprehensive restoration and renovation effort to take place over a number of years.  A thorough multi-volume historic structures report that documented the history, physical development and current conditions of the entire building, was followed by the preparation of a masterplan. In this plan areas that deserved to be restored versus rehabilitated were outlined, priorities were established and preliminary scopes of work were assembled for the efforts designated.  With the work and priorities identified, preliminary cost projections were prepared for a five year program.

Subsequently one of the areas that was further investigated concerned the exterior stone. Constructed of both Saratoga and Deer Island granite, different weathering and deterioration patterns were noted. The study documented the areas of decay, examined representative samples of stone in both the field and laboratory conditions, established the mechanisms of deterioration and recommended methods of repair and remediation.