The new Capitol furnishings also include specially designed cases for the exhibit area on first floor, new tables and chairs for the four new legislative committee hearing rooms in the remodeled building, plus reworking all kinds of old furnishings, such as old wooden benches that used to be in the chambers and in hallways, and buying new, historically correct special pieces.

Most of the furniture going into lawmakers' private offices is being built at the Utah State Prison, and at a much-reduced price than if it were purchased on the open market, said Hart.

The governor's ceremonial office at the west end of the second floor should be beautiful, with wall stenciling, painting and flooring restored to the original 1915 designs, Hart said. The governor will also have a private, working office, which will have a panoramic view to the south and west.

The House speaker and Senate president's offices will also be placed in their original locations, just off their respective chamber floors. Those three top state bosses will have private bathrooms, as well.

A recent tour of the still-under-construction Capitol showed that the greatest gainer of space and luxury is the legislative branch of government. Crowded for years in the old Capitol, legislative leaders' offices will be more spacious than the cubby-hole-like offices they had before.

Private spaces

While the remodeled Capitol will be spectacular, there will be so many private areas behind locked doors reserved for legislators, the governor and other officials, that visitors may not see up to a third of the remodeled space.

Directors of the three main legislative staff offices — Legislative Research and General Counsel, Legislative Fiscal Analyst and Legislator Auditor — had hoped to move their staffs back into the Capitol, where their offices were.

However, to provide more lawmaker office space, those staff offices will stay in the House and Senate office buildings.

Legislative leaders at one point didn't even want their own staff to be able to move around behind locked doors in hallways and elevators reserved for legislators. That led Hart and others to warn legislative leaders that their own staff may not be able to get to meetings in a timely manner if they had to use public areas — which, of course, the public has to use to get to legislative meetings in a timely manner. Accordingly, that decision has been changed, said Curtis, and legislative staff will now be able to use lawmakers' areas.