Renovations of the House chamber include new carpets, refinished desks, new microphones, updated chairs, additional outlets and chargers, and new soundproofing panels. (Photo by Steven Allen Adams)

CHARLESTON — When members of the West Virginia House of Delegates gavel in for the 2024 legislative session beginning Wednesday, they will be meeting in a newly renovated chamber that includes technological updates while preserving its history.

Members of the press were taken on a tour of the House chamber Friday afternoon, led by House Clerk Steve Harrison. Despite some continuing testing of systems, Harrison said the chamber is ready for this year’s 60-day legislative session and beyond.

“It was much needed,” Harrison said. “For those who have been in the chamber, many of you saw peeling in the arches and the carpet was very worn, so the renovation was past due and much needed. This is an important place to keep looking as it should. We get so many guests in here, so many tourists stopping in. This gives them an impression of our state and it needed a renovation and it’s gone very well. And we’re looking forward to hopefully this being around for many, many years to come.”

Renovations began in earnest in August following the end of the August special legislative session. Construction crews wheeled out the members’ desks, pulled up the carpets, took down the soundproofing curtains, and put up scaffolding from floor to ceiling. Crews conducting trenching, ripping out old cables and wiring and installing new outlets and chargers for members’ desks.

Instead of curtains, soundproof panels now exist in the chamber and the galleries overlooking the chamber to help remove any echo. This allows more of the marble walls to be seen, brightening the space. New microphones were installed to also help improve the sound quality for members, staff, press, and the public to better hear floor debates.

House Clerk Steve Harrison takes reporters on a tour of the newly renovated House of Delegates chamber Friday. (Photo by Steven Allen Adams)

“We have done several things which we hope will improve the sound system,” Harrison said. “We have all new microphones; we have new speakers up there. We actually moved the speakers in to reduce some of the bouncing off the walls. We have all new sound panels down here. We also added sound panels in the galleries because a sound test was done and sound was bouncing around in the galleries. So that should greatly improve the sound system.”

Server racks taking up space in the spaces behind the House Speaker’s podium where members meet for the Rules Committee were updated and improved, allowing them to be moved out of the way. Even the press tables were improved with new seating and better access to outlets and chargers. Harrison said the tech changes should allow the chamber to be updated into the future.

“We think we are prepared for many years to come with the technology needs as they change,” Harrison said.

But the changes were not just technological, but historical. The members’ desks, many of which date back to the building of the State Capitol Building by architect Cass Gilbert, which was completed in 1932, were refinished and renovated. New carpets were installed, keeping with the traditional red that’s always been present in House carpets, but adding a gold and blue decorative motif.

Harrison said the House Clerk’s Office consulted with the Capitol Building Commission and used historical photographs to keep the chamber close to Gilbert’s vision.

“We stayed with the same color scheme that was here previously,” Harrison said. The paint is substantially the same color scheme as what we had before, although when we got looking at it, there have been many, many color schemes in this room throughout the years. So, we did try to stay with the basic look that we had before.”

Instead of the larger red leather upholstered seats that often made it harder for lawmakers and staff to move around the already crowded chamber, new seats with smaller profiles and arms that can fit under the desks have now created much more room in the chamber.

“These chairs, the arms are a little shorter, so the delegates can actually scoot their chair up under their desk now,” Harrison said. “And if somebody’s going through to do cleaning or walking down the aisle, they can get through better. So, the chairs are an improvement. We did also change the color of the chairs, which we think ties in well with the blue we have in here.”

Harrison said that change orders for the project were kept to a minimum, with the final costs of the project coming in close to $2.4 million. The last time the House chamber was renovated was 1995. Harrison hopes the changes and renovations will last significantly longer and help West Virginians take pride in their Capitol.

“It is exciting because so many folks, they may be traveling through on the interstate and just stop to see our Capitol. This may be the first impression that many people get of our state because we get folks dropping in quite often,” Harrison said. “Even before this, they were impressed with our Capitol, but I think they will be even more so impressed with the new look.”

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.