For regular readers, you know that I’ve visited our beautiful State Capitol in celebration of its bicentennial. For the next couple of posts, I’m going inside the Capitol to show some off its interior. The Commonwealth’s two legislative bodies: the House of Representatives and the Senate (together, the General Assembly) meet in opposite ends of the Capitol.
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| Kentucky House Chamber, Frankfort, Ky. |
The chamber of the House is pictured above. It is here that the Governor gives his annual State of the Commonwealth Address.The beautiful chair behind the lectern is the Speaker’s Chair. In ordinary session, it is occupied by the Speaker of the House. During joint sessions, however, the gavel and seat is turned over to the Senate President. During the Governor’s address, President Williams can be seen rocking from left to right in the chair (which has uneven legs). The docent on hand during my visit informed me that, despite multiple attempts to correct the problem, the chair cannot be leveled.
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| Kentucky Senate Chamber, Frankfort, Ky. |
The Senate Chamber has thirty-eight mahogany desks – one for each member. During the bicentennial celebration, access to the Senate floor – unlike the People’s House – was restricted to a small area in the back of the chamber. Like the House, it is very Romenesque in design and features a very large and very beautiful original skylight.