Project Should Make Capitol Mall Safer Adding Cameras, Other Devices Should Quell Nighttime Fears
Idaho’s elegant Statehouse can be a spooky place at night, even when it isn’t Halloween.
The Capitol building and surrounding facilities in the Capitol Mall teem with people during the day. At night, it’s a different matter.
With 201,720 square feet of office space and 50,046 square feet of corridors with carved marble floors, there are plenty of dark corners. The slightest sound echoes through the hallways.
Now a remodeling project will make the building safer.
It’s aimed at improving security throughout the Capitol Mall, the main parking garage and other state government buildings.
Under a $460,000 contract, security cameras are being installed so officers can monitor large areas.
“We will be able to see the major areas of the Statehouse,” said Mike Despot, chief of facilities in the Department of Administration. “We’ll be able to send security to where we want them.”
Door contacts also are going in so security will know when any door is opened at night, and more fire detection devices are being added.
The state’s four-story parking garage, a few steps from the major office buildings, also has had its share of dark corners. So lights now high in the overhead beams are being lowered to illuminate more areas, and two security cameras are being installed on each floor of the garage.
Despot said the first phase is to be complete by mid-December. Later the security system will be extended to the Towers Building, which houses the Department of Health and Welfare.
An intercom system also is being installed at most entry doors so if workers accidentally get locked out, they can quickly summon security officers.
The Statehouse used to be almost deserted at night. There hasn’t been much trouble other than a little graffiti and a few broken windows. Lawmakers grumbled a few years ago when security guards were added.
But the grumbling stopped on New Year’s Day of 1992. A security officer spotted a fire that started in a wastebasket in the attorney general’s office on the second floor.
The blaze caused $4 million damage, but would have been much worse if the officer hadn’t come across the fire in its early stages.
The security force has operated out of a kiosk on the ground floor of the Statehouse, but the command center will move to the state parking garage when the new security system is completed.
xxxx Statehouse project The remodeling project will add security cameras, an intercom system, door contacts and more fire detection devices. Lighting in the four-story parking garage will be enhanced, and cameras are being installed on each floor of the garage.