Visitors to the state Capitol on Tuesday weaved in and out of carts loaded with boxes and furniture as Senate Democrats migrated for the first time in a decade to the minority offices and Senate Republicans moved into the vacated digs.
“It’s moving day,” said Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, trying to figure out what to do with all of her stuff because she had been assigned to a smaller office.
But the move is more than just exchanging offices. Extensive remodeling is going on under the Gold Dome to restore the Senate and House chambers and to give more lawmakers . Hard-hat-only signs are still displayed in spots at the Capitol.
Almost half of the lawmakers will have offices across East Colfax Avenue in what was the attorney general’s building and now houses other state operations, including the personnel department.
Back at the Capitol, what used to be the House Services Office, which included bullpens for individual lawmakers, a reception area and mail boxes, has been gutted and will be a large committee room.
Next door, the Senate Minority Office has new carpet and new tile. Gone are the tiny cubicles outside the minority leader and assistant minority leader’s offices that housed six lawmakers, replaced with individual offices for three lawmakers. will call this home for the next two years.
At noon, Sen. Bill Cadman stood in the empty Senate president’s office that he inherited. He recalled a meeting some 20 years ago with the Senate president at the time, Ray Powers, who also was a Colorado Springs Republican. Cadman said it will be an honor to work in the same office where Powers once held sway.
While Cadman was at lunch, staffers moved in his couch, a desk, chairs, family pictures and other office equipment.
When new lawmakers are sworn in on opening day Jan. 7, . Senate Democrats now hold an 18-17 majority.
The move is less dramatic in the House, as Democrats retained the majority after the election, but it’s still a game of musical chairs. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst of Boulder had been the majority leader but was elected speaker by her caucus and has moved into the office once occupied by Speaker Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, who is term-limited. His term officially expires when the 2015 legislature convenes.
Rep. Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, who was elected majority leader by her caucus, has moved into Hullinghorst’s old office but has yet to unpack. On Tuesday, she showed off the artwork she plans to hang in her office.
As for the chambers, the repair of a radiator in the House gallery in 2011 led to the discovery of ornate stenciling on green paint that had been covered when tiles were installed in the 1950s. A test of the Senate uncovered similar stenciling but with red paint.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels
