Indiana House makeover includes $760 chairs

When Indiana House members return for the next legislative session, their chambers will be spiffed up with new $760 leather chairs, carpeting and better cabling for their digital needs.

The improvements are part of a two-year refurbishing of the House chambers and other House meeting rooms and offices costing about $338,000 so far. Of that, about $130,000 is being spent on work this summer.

Funds came from a total of $750,000 appropriated by lawmakers in the last state budget for House renovations and repairs. Remaining funds will be used over the next few years for ongoing maintenance and other changes deemed necessary by the House staff and leadership.

Gone from the chambers, located on the third floor of the Statehouse, are the more than 20-year-old blue leather chairs for the 100 House members. They’ll be replaced with deep plum leather chairs, matching the carpet, with the Indiana seal on the back.

House Republican chief of staff Lesley Crane said too much money was being spent on repairing the chairs and replacing some of the leather, so it made more fiscal sense to replace them. A total of 127 chairs, including some for the Ways and Means Committee room and extras, were purchased for about $97,000.

While they cost $760 apiece, that expense was offset by about 45 percent because current chairs are being sold, primarily to current and past House members, she said.

So the total net price of the chairs, made by Indiana Furniture Co. in Jasper, will be about $55,000, Crane said. They’ll be delivered by the end of October.

“Current members have first crack at them (old chairs),” said Crane. “We have a lot of history buffs. They want to make sure it’s their chair. I’m happy to sell it to them.”

The new carpet, already installed, is the same plum, green and white print design that previously had been in the chambers. It was purchased last year for $53,000, but the installation was delayed until this summer.

The House decided to take advantage of the legislative downtime this summer to upgrade the cabling to the computer systems underneath the desks, too. That work can be done only when the carpeting and desks are removed.

Crane said the new cabling is needed to keep up with growing technology needs, especially because of all the wireless devices. The current cabling is about 15 years old.

Other work includes repairing plaster on the chamber ceiling and removing brass light fixtures, and brass railings along the balconies, to refurbish and seal them.

The type of brass sealing being done, she said, has to be done only once in order to maintain the luster. Similar work was done last year on the large chandelier hanging from the chamber ceiling. New Hampshire-based Acu-Bright has done all the brass refurbishing work.

Senior staff of the House, including the chief of staff and House counsel, decided what work needed to be done, in consultation with House Speaker Brian Bosma, other House leadership and the House facilities manager, said House Ways and Means Chairman Tim Brown, R- Crawfordsville.

“Decisions are made because this is the people’s chambers,” he said. “We have lots of groups come through and lots of people using the Statehouse every year.”

Last year, funds also were spent on a new computerized voting system, carpet in the Ways and Means Committee room and new desks for House staff, including legislative assistants and communications personnel.

Brown said the House put off major renovations during the recession, but that it needed to make improvements to properly maintain historic space in the Statehouse.

The Senate did a major renovation of its chambers, across the hall from the House, in 2008. New carpet was installed, and the chairs and the voting board screen were replaced.

Call Star reporter Barb Berggoetz at (317) 444-6294. Follow her on Twitter: @barbberg.