As a result of this neglect, it has become a huge firetrap, an energy-inefficient dinosaur, a conglomeration of designs and styles that would cause any critic to cry. Those of us who have heard the ringing arguments in the Senate, watched the parliamentary bumbles of freshmen representatives in the House, waited outside the governor's office for an audience or picked up copies.of new bills in the Legislative Council have grown comfortable with the threadbare carpet, the cramped elevators and the leaking ceilings. But the building is literally a danger to everyone who enters. It has never been upgraded to meet seismic safety standards. It's full of asbestos.
Security is poor.
Plumbing and wiring are makeshift and inadequate. It has almost no provisions for accommodating the disabled. And the dome actually has holes in it. The ambitious renovation project is South Carolina's largest in decades. As we approached this project with the help of the state Archives Department, our idea was to bring the State House back as closely as possible to its original design by Architect John Rudolph Niernsee.