Parts of the original California Capitol were found in a ‘time capsule’ in Carmichael

Mike Madrid has worked in and out of the California Capitol for the last 25 years. So when he discovered pieces of the Capitol from the 1975 restoration in a “time capsule” at a non-profit in Carmichael, he was excited.

“It was like this gold mine opening up, purely coincidentally, and I immediately recognized what most of the pieces were,” Madrid said. “Just by chance and timing, we kind of happened upon it as the Capitol is beginning its next renovations.”

The state Legislature is spending $755 million to rebuild the 67-year-old Capitol Annex and is expected to finish by 2025.

Madrid is a political consultant and on the foundation board for the non-profit Developmental Disabilities Service Organization. While surveying the assets of the organization’s property, he noticed a storage box sitting in the back and asked if he could open it.

Inside were old legislative office doors, original moldings, marble and parts of the rotunda from the original state Capitol building that went through a significant restoration process in 1975.

Fragments of white cast iron ornaments with decorative swirls that may have lined the Capitol’s walls lay at the bottom of the box. A heavy brown ceiling medallion with protruding designs encircling the center leaned against one side.

By 1972, the Capitol had lost some of its original architecture due to frequent remodeling to adapt to the state’s growing population. The Capitol was also deemed unsafe in a fire or earthquake in a seismic study.

Instead of constructing a new building from the ground up, the state decided to restore the Capitol to its original state. Workers found pieces of original frieze work, rosettes and deeply embossed wall-coverings known as lincrusta. They used molds to copy the designs and recast iron pieces to match the original ornaments.

The rediscovered materials would have otherwise gone to the dump had it not been for the late John Worsley, the head state architect who oversaw the 1975 Capitol restoration.

He salvaged parts of the original Capitol and donated them to the disabilities non-profit to use as material for art projects and Capitol-themed keepsakes for their Capitol Books & Gifts store. The store, in the Capitol basement, has been open since the 1980s and provides employment for people with disabilities.

The non-profit has used the copper wire and marble from the original Capitol to create trivets, paperweights, copper poppies and Christmas ornaments over the years. But a significant portion of the material remained in storage.

Madrid believes that Worsley was also concerned about these materials being lost to history, and so “put it in this time capsule out here in Carmichael, hoping that someday, at the right time, people would realize that there was some value to the state.”

Although the non-profit had known what was inside the storage facility for years, Madrid’s discovery helped make a connection to the current Capitol renovations. He told Assemblyman Ken Cooley, a Rancho Cordova Democrat, about the rediscovered materials.

Cooley was just a young staffer during the 1975 restoration. His boss was then-Assemblyman Louis Papan, who led the restoration. Now Cooley, who happens to represent the district where the “time capsule” was found, is overseeing the Capitol’s current renovation.

Madrid’s hope is that some of the original artifacts can be used again.

“Plans for additions to the Capitol are still in its initial stages, but it’s good we had contact with him so that he’s aware of this,” Madrid said. “If we can incorporate some of this stuff into the new renovation, that would be amazing.”

This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 5:30 AM.