Illinois State Capitol

The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, is the building that houses legislative and the executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Illinois. The current building is the sixth to serve as the capitol since Illinois was admitted to the United States in 1818. The capitol is in the architectural style of the French Renaissance and was designed by Cochrane and Garnsey, an architecture and design firm based in Chicago. Ground was first broken for the new capitol on March 11, 1868, and it was completed twenty years later for a total cost of $4,500,000. The building contains the chambers for the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate, as well as an office for the Illinois Governor, additional offices and committee rooms. The building's footprint is in the shape of a cross with four wings. Its tall central dome, and tower roofs, are covered in zinc to provide a silvery facade which does not weather. The interior of the dome features a plaster frieze painted to resemble bronze, which illustrates scenes from Illinois history, and stained glass windows, including a stained glass replica of the state seal in the oculus of the dome.