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Last year the General Assembly approved a three-year, $392 million renovation in Atlanta’s Capitol Hill area. The first project is a new Legislative Office Building for lawmakers’ offices, as well as for staff and committee rooms. The second is the renovation and restoration of the historic Capitol building. The goal is to renovate the interior, regild the gold dome, improve accessibility, replace the mechanical systems and restore the original state library.

However, work will be suspended next week so the opening of the 2025 General Assembly won’t be disrupted.

Gerald Pilgrim, deputy executive director of the Georgia Building Authority which oversees the renovation, gives James Magazine Online some interesting facts about the regilding project. He says, “Gold was sourced from two Dahlonega gold mines, 40 ounces of gold cover the dome, over 100 contractors worked on the project erecting the scaffold and repairing damage. and seven artisan installers applied the gold leaf over three months.” Also, “erecting the scaffolding and removing it took over three months and had to be done by hand.”

In addition to the dome being re-gilded, the new eight-story legislative office building will have a 500-car parking deck along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

The renovation is “a framework for bringing the Capitol and the Coverdell Legislative Office Building up to a standard that will address the state’s needs for the next 50 years,” according to a study assessment presented last January to lawmakers by the Georgia Building Authority.

Pilgrim also praises Atlanta-based SG Contracting. “The company has been a valued partner in this entire project. Its experience and expertise have been important as we tackled the largest project on Capitol Hill and one of the largest in the state’s history. Its CEO Sachin Shailendra has worked tirelessly to ensure not only the success of the project but on the budget to help make sure we provide the best value for the state and being fiscally responsible. The state is lucky to have partners like SG Contracting who understand and appreciate working on a legacy project like this.”

Renovations will resume in April after the legislative session ends. The new legislative office building is slated to be finished by the end of 2026 while overall renovations should be finished by late 2027.