Inside Out: How the Illinois State Capitol's Holiday Lights Shine
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Transcript of Inside Out: How the Illinois State Capitol's Holiday Lights Shine
INSIDE OUT: HOW THE CAPITOL’S HOLIDAY LIGHTS SHINE
For more than 30 years, Capitol workers have
scaled the dome every November to string lights celebrating the holiday
season.
From start to finish, it takes eight electricians
about three hours to hoist 12 strands of lights with roughly 270 lights
total.
Michelle Pawlak pauses as workers climb the internal staircase in the air gap between the
ceiling of the rotunda and the exterior walls to access the roof and dome of the Capitol.
Terry Agans readies a
pulley that will be used to
hoist the lights.
Pawlak and Agans set up a custom-built bar and roller that keeps each strand suspended away from
the walls of the dome preventing tangling or breaking.
Agans throws a rope to the upper platform of the dome. The rope will be used to pull the lights up from a lower part of the roof.
The rope is guided through a pulley.
Gary Shepard prepares to pull up the lights.
Kevin Hill and Matt
Gillock hoist the lights.
These aren’t your typical Christmas tree lights,these strands take 130-volt bulbs.
A finished string of lights hangs from the dome.
A view up the ladder leading to
the dome’s flag pole: the top of the flag is
409 feet above street level.
Agans looks out from the top of the rotunda.
The Capitol lights as seen from Capitol Avenue.
Under the Dome.
