We’re glad to see progress has been made in coming up with a compromise plan to find money to repair Colorado’s iconic gold Capitol dome.
From the outset, we have believed there was a way for those backing competing restoration funding plans to meet in the middle and create a public-private solution. However, we think there is room to make the latest compromise measure just a bit better.
The new plan, being pushed by state Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, would take $4 million from the State Historical Fund in the first year, then look to privately raised dollars for repair money in years two and three.
If fundraising efforts brought in less than $4 million in either of those years, then the balance of the money would come from the historical fund.
It’s a big improvement over the first version of Kopp’s plan, which took all of the money from the historical fund. That idea was criticized by preservationists who want the fund to pay for a variety of projects around the state.
Preservationists, in particular Colorado Preservation Inc., believe the money for dome repairs can be raised privately.
And that may be the case. But it’s also true that the dome is in trouble. Its cast iron base is rusting badly, and a 10-pound hunk of metal fell off the thing in 2007, which only upped the anxiety about its condition.
We think the preservationists ought to be given a chance to raise the cash to fix the dome. If they can raise the $4 million in the first year, then there would be no reason to tap the historical fund for that money.
If they also do so in years two and three, well, more power to them. In any scenario, the historical fund ought to remain as a backstop in case fundraising goals are not met. The project cannot be allowed to languish for years if the private money fails to materialize.
Furthermore, the dome project is exactly the kind of work the fund is supposed to support.
State Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, is sticking to his original bill, in which private money largely would be relied upon for repairs, without using state historic money as a mandatory backstop.
Riesberg has done a good job bringing attention to the issue. Even though his bill has cleared the House and is close to clearing the Senate, we would hope he would see the pragmatism in joining forces with others in the hybrid approach.
Scraping up the money to fix the dome is a difficult proposition in these troubled economic times. We hope all of those who care about saving the structure can find a way to work together on this important project.
