AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- The State House dome is looking like a brand new penny after construction crews have spent the summer replacing the roof. The copper dome, which was built during a major renovation of the capital building in 1909 to 1910, has been green since around 1940, but is now a bright copper.
"The shininess you see here, after another couple months it will be to a uniform brown," said Jeremy Whitehouse, the project manager for Consigli Construction. "That will be the way we see it because of the slow aging...(to) brown and green, for really the next 30 years."
Whitehouse said an inspection back in 2012 showed the old copper roof was starting to fail. There were numerous holes in it, which had been calked to keep it from leaking. Fearing severe damage if the condition worsened, officials began planning to replace the roof.
"It is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime project to work on this," said Victor Wright, a third generation coppersmith with The Heritage Company Coppersmiths.
Wright said the biggest challenge they've faced is fitting the square copper sheeting to the rounded roof, which requires careful measurement and lots of cutting.
The old roof, which was expected to last 60 to 70 years, lasted more than 100. Wright said the new roof could last even longer because of better materials and improved techniques.
The project is expected to wrap up before Thanksgiving.
