Century-old elevator found in Idaho Capitol

BOISE — Construction workers put down their tools to gawk. Capitol Commission spokesman Gary Daniel said it looked "like something from Czarist Russia."

Entombed for nobody is sure how long near the attorney general's office, workers on the state Capitol renovation project have uncovered a century old, birdcage-like elevator hidden behind a bookcase in a closed-off elevator shaft.

"It's a beautiful thing," said John Emery, construction manager with Jacobsen Hunt, the firm handling the restoration of Idaho's Capitol. "Everyone crowded around, wanting to see it."

The Otis electric elevator, built about 1900, was dusty when it was recently uncovered, but its buttons, bell and brass filigree were undamaged.

Emery said it's unclear how long the elevator has been enclosed. Workers knew an abandoned elevator shaft ran behind the bookcase near the attorney general's office — but didn't know it still contained an elevator.

The elevator at one time carried passengers between the first and third floors. But the elevator shaft has been filled in, and officials said the elevator will be restored as simply a token from the past.

Besides the elevator, construction workers have also been uncovering the work of builders from a century ago.

"As we're doing demolition, we're uncovering fascinating old building methods," Emery told the Idaho Statesman.

One example he noted is a round column in the garden level that shows outlines of boards used to mold the concrete.

Another building method that has disappeared, Emery said, are steel I-beams covered with poured concrete. He said the beams are also permanently riveted, as opposed to the modern bolting or welding methods.

Some of the idiosyncrasies of the Capitol might have been the result of the mere 37 drawings for its original construction. Emery said architects of that era relied on builders to figure out the construction details as they went.

Other old parts of the Capitol are also coming to light. A mint condition milky glass light fixture lost during a remodel in the 1960s has been brought in after the Capitol Commission asked for such fixtures. The person who brought in the fixture has asked to remain anonymous.

"She rescued it from the trash," said Jan Frew, executive project manager for the Capitol remodel. "It was lovingly cared for, kept in a closet for 30 years. She knew that she would have the chance to return it to its rightful place."