US Capitol
Grounds
The Capitol Grounds cover approximately 274 acres (111 ha), with the grounds proper consisting mostly of lawns, walkways, streets, drives, and planting areas. Today's grounds were designed by noted American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who planned the expansion and landscaping performed from 1874 to 1892. In 1875, as one of his first recommendations, Olmsted proposed the construction of the marble terraces on the north, west, and south sides of the building that we see today.
Olmstead also designed the Summer House, the open-air brick building that sits just north of the Capitol. Three arches open into the hexagonal structure, which encloses a fountain and twenty-two brick chairs. A fourth wall holds a small window that looks onto an artificial grotto. Built between 1879 and 1881, the Summer House was intended to answer complaints that visitors to the Capitol had no place to sit and no place to water their horses and themselves. Modern drinking fountains have since replaced Olmsted's fountain for the latter purpose, but the horses ridden by the Capitol's mounted police unit can still occasionally be seen dipping into the original stone basin. Olmsted intended to build a second, matching Summer House on the southern side of the Capitol, but Congressional objections led to the project's cancellation.
Art
The Capitol has a long history in American art. Beginning in 1856 with Italian-American artist Constantino Brumidi and his murals in the hallways of the first floor, Senate side of the Capitol. The murals, known as the Brumidi Corridor, reflect great moments and people in American history. Among the original works are included Benjamin Franklin, John Fitch, Robert Fulton, and events such as the Cession of Louisiana. Also decorating the walls animals, insects and natural flora indigenous to the United States. Brumidi's design also left many spaces open so that future events in American history could be added. Among those added are the Spirit of St. Louis, The Moon Landing, and the Challenger Shuttle crew.
Brumidi also worked within the Capitol Rotunda. He is responsible for the painting of The Apotheosis of Washington beneath the top of the dome, and also the famous Frieze of American History. The Apotheosis of George Washington was completed in 11 months and painted by Brumidi while he was hanging from nearly 180 feet in the air. It is said the be the first ever attempt by America to deify a founding father. Washington is depicted surrounded by 13 maidens in an inner ring with many Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses below him in a second ring. The frieze is located around the inside of the base of the dome and is a chronological, pictorial history of America from the landing of Christopher Columbus to the Wright Brothers's flight in Kitty Hawk. The frieze was started in 1878 and was not completed until 1987. The Frieze was therefore painted by four different artists: Brumidi, Filippo Castoggini, Charles Ayer Whipple, and Allyn Cox. It is interesting to note that the final scenes depicted in the fresco had not yet occurred when Brumidi began his Frieze of American History.
Within the Rotunda is also located eight paintings of the development of America as a nation. On the east side are four paintings depicting major events in the discovery of America. On the west are four paintings depicting the founding of the American Nation. The east side paintings include The Baptism of Pocahontas by John Gadsby Chapman, The Embarkation of the Pilgrims by Robert W. Weir, The Discovery of the Mississippi by William H. Powell, and The Landing of Columbus by John Vanderlyn. On the west side is The Declaration of Independence, The Surrender of General Burgoyne, The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and General George Washington Resigning His Commission, all painted by John Trumbull, a contemporary of America's founding fathers and a participant in the American Revolutionary War. In fact, Trumbull painted himself into The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis.
Attacks in the Capitol
In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire on members of Congress from the visitors gallery. In 1983, a bomb detonated in the lobby outside the Senate chamber. On July 24, 1998, Russell Eugene Weston Jr. burst into the Capitol and opened fire, killing two United States Capitol Police officers.
Security
Since the events of September 11, 2001, the roads and grounds around the U.S. Capitol Building have undergone a number of dramatic changes. Most notably, construction is well underway on the previously-mentioned underground, 3-level, 580,000 square foot United States Capitol Visitor Center by the east face of the Capitol. The overall project budget is $517 million.
The project had long been in the planning stages, but 9-11 provided the impetus to start work. Construction was begun in the fall of 2001. Security is expected to be enhanced by directing all public visitors through the center. Critics charge that security improvements have been the least of the project´s expense; and, indeed, construction delays and added features by Congress continue to add to the cost. The current expected cost of the center is nearly 800 million dollars. The center is expected to open at some point in 2008. Citizens Against Government Waste have called it a Monument to Waste. However many, including those who work in the Capitol, consider it a necessary and appropriate historical project. It will be entirely underground.
The Capitol Police have also installed checkpoints to inspect vehicles at specific locations around Capitol Hill, and have closed a section of one street indefinitely.[8] The level of screening employed varies. On the main east-west thoroughfares of Constitution and Independence Avenues, barricades are implanted in the roads that can be raised in the event of an emergency. Trucks larger than pickups are interdicted by the United States Capitol Police and are instructed to use other routes. On the checkpoints at the shorter cross streets, the barriers are typically kept in a permanent “emergency” position, and only vehicles with special permits are allowed to pass.
Finally, structures ranging from scores of Jersey barriers to hundreds of ornamental bollards have been erected to obstruct the path of any vehicles that might stray from the designated roadways. Each of the poles is reported to cost $7,500.
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