The Idaho capitol couldn’t fly until it had wings. Old pictures of the statehouse with its familiar dome, spreading stairs, and soaring columns, sans the senate and house wings make the whole thing look a little stubby (below). The east and west additions balanced the look of the building and made it much more functional.
Adding the wings wasn’t as easy as it might seem. First, Legislators had to haggle over an appropriations bill. That gave members from eastern Idaho an excuse to bring up the idea of moving the capital halfway across the state, specifically to Shoshone. They thought the existing building would make a fine university. The idea did not have wings.
Once $900,000 was appropriated for construction of the additions, there was the matter of the state not actually owning the property where they were to go. Boiseans were asked to pass a bond of $135,000 to purchase the property where the wings would be built. The newly acquired property would later be swapped with the state.
Once the Boise bond was passed, the structures on the property had to go away. They included the Central School building, which was being used at the time by the state agriculture department. The Sherman House, a fashionable boarding house once owned by the sister of Mary Hallock Foote would come down, as would Collister Flats, the Aloha Apartments, and four small residences.
The wings, which now host the chambers of the House and Senate as well as other state offices, were completed in 1920.
Adding the wings wasn’t as easy as it might seem. First, Legislators had to haggle over an appropriations bill. That gave members from eastern Idaho an excuse to bring up the idea of moving the capital halfway across the state, specifically to Shoshone. They thought the existing building would make a fine university. The idea did not have wings.
Once $900,000 was appropriated for construction of the additions, there was the matter of the state not actually owning the property where they were to go. Boiseans were asked to pass a bond of $135,000 to purchase the property where the wings would be built. The newly acquired property would later be swapped with the state.
Once the Boise bond was passed, the structures on the property had to go away. They included the Central School building, which was being used at the time by the state agriculture department. The Sherman House, a fashionable boarding house once owned by the sister of Mary Hallock Foote would come down, as would Collister Flats, the Aloha Apartments, and four small residences.
The wings, which now host the chambers of the House and Senate as well as other state offices, were completed in 1920.
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