Interior framing and brickwork of dome - April 1931. Since the
original planning of the complex there was agreement that the
capitol would feature a dome and rotunda. Some of the state's
officials became alarmed, however, when it was realized that the
architect planned to have the dome covered with gold leaf.
Gilbert asserted that the gilding was more appropriate to the
building and would cost less in construction and maintenance
than if stone were used. "If we had built the dome of stone, as
in the Arkansas Capitol," he said, "or of marble, as in the
Minnesota Capitol or the Rhode Island Capitol, it would have
cost five or ten times as much money. In other words, the bell
of the dome of this dimension in marble might easily have cost
$500,000, whereas the comparatively modest expense for covering
it with newly developed material of lead coated with copper and
using gilding, has reduced the cost to a minimum... if the bell
of the dome were of limestone it would be, in this climate,
susceptible to expansion an