The historic chandelier in the Minnesota State Capitol will return to action Thursday afternoon after an extensive cleaning and repair process. There will be a public ceremony at 4 p.m. that includes the raising of the chandelier, relighting of the 92 bulbs and period songs of the 1900s sung by vocalist Erik Pearson.
The one-ton, 6-foot-diameter chandelier has been out of action since August 2010 for cleaning and repair. (I'll never again complain about the time it takes to clean our lights.)
Workers repaired the interior dome which was damaged by water infiltration from the leaky roof. They also rewired it and cleaned off 30 years of dirt and grime. There are 40,000 crystal beads on the light.
Extensive renovation work is under way on many parts of the Capitol, which was designed by Cass Gilbert and completed in 1905.