Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Madison — State officials charged with overseeing the state Capitol are now backing away from their estimate that demonstrators did more than $7 million in damage to the building.
"I think that's more of a worst-case scenario," said Jeff Plale, the former Democratic state senator who is now the state facilities administrator. "There are other estimates."
Touring the Capitol Friday morning with state architect Dan Stephans, Plale said he had not immediately observed any damage from demonstrations over Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill, though the pair was just starting their tour. Plale said that he didn't believe the state had had any experienced contractor provide the quote on the damages.
Officials said in Dane County court Thursday that the damage could come from tape used for posting fliers and papers and other materials.
Workers were already beginning to remove those Friday. In one second-floor hallway at least, a Journal Sentinel reporter could see no damage to the marble where the tape had been removed.
In court Thursday, officials with the Walker administration said that damage from the demonstration to the marble inside and outside the Capitol would cost an estimated $7.5 million: $6 million for damage inside, $1 million for damage outside and $500,000 for additional expenses. State officials made the claim as they were arguing their case for restricting access to the statehouse.
A Dane County judge ruled later that day that the Capitol must be opened to the public but that protesters camping out in the building also had to be removed. The building is now being opened up to the public, though there are still some restrictions and high security.
In court, the state cited concerns about the statehouse expressed by Michele Curran, an architectural historian with the National Park Service who coordinates national historic landmarks in Wisconsin.
In an interview Thursday, Curran said that certain kinds of tape can leave lasting residues on the marble and wood surfaces of the Capitol if the tape is not removed properly.
Stephans added Friday that the Capitol has more than 40 kinds of marble and that the chemistry of those stones and of different kinds of tape can interact differently. The longer the tape remains in place, the greater the chance for some effect, he said.
But Curran said she didn't know how the state had arrived at its damage figures. She said only a professional cleaning service experienced in such work and familiar with the situation in the Capitol could accurately estimate cleanup costs. But Plale said Friday he wasn't aware of the state receiving any such estimate yet.
Many of the papers and banners posted in the statehouse were put up using painter's tape, which is employed to minimize effects on walls. Stephans said Friday he had ordered the tape sent to the Capitol during the demonstrations to minimize effects on the building.
State Rep. Brett Hulsey (D-Madison) Thursday questioned the damage figure.
"That's a lot of bottles of Formula 409," he said.
