Kentucky State Capitol Chapel Renovations

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jun. 23, 2009) It’s tucked away on the second floor of the Capitol, below the Senate chambers and nearby to legislators busy today in special session. It’s variously referred to as the Chapel, the Prayer Room or the Meditation Room. It has four small wooden pews facing a mantel, embossed with praying hands on the front, holding a large Bible and the small, red legislative edition of the New Testament.

The walls are adorned with old draperies that emit a slight musty smell. Storage items, electrical wire boxes and a Web server are behind one drapery. Two small electric candles on either side of the mantel complete the simple display. The only sounds inside are the white noise from the air vent and the server, which provide an almost rhythmic background for private thoughts.
“This is my first year in the legislature,” Rep. Martha Jane King, D-Lewisburg, said recently. “When things get difficult up on the third floor, I go down to the second floor. It really does help to go quiet your mind and remember why you are here.”

No one is quite sure when the chapel was built, but articles from the Kentucky Historical Society provide clues. The State Journal in February 28, 1984, reported the chapel was not in the original Capitol plans. The article says Col. George Chinn, former director of KHS, remembers the room as a chapel when he served as Senate sergeant-at-arms in 1928 (or 1937 as handwritten on the article). At that time, the small room contained a table with a Bible on it. An April 14, 1964 article from the Murray Ledger & Times has a picture of a “non-denominational Prayer Room” being dedicated by Gov. Edward T. Breathitt, former Gov. Bert Combs and Kentucky-Tennessee District Kiwanis Governor Marvin Music. Kiwanis International provided the furnishings. Another State Journal article dated June 23, 1991, says Rev. Joe Adams from Bloomfield tried to organize a statewide campaign through Kiwanis to raise $25,000 for the chapel, but the project died. Adams donated the legislative edition of her New Testament that’s available today.

According to David L. Buchta, director and state curator of the Kentucky Division of Historic Properties, new carpeting was added in 2004, but he knows of no other upgrades since its dedication in 1964. History seems to be repeating itself. The Frankfort Kiwanis is again interested in refurbishing the chapel – this time spurred by the efforts of King. “Our Capitol building is so beautiful,” said King. “It kept nagging at me that we should do something to fix up the chapel. What we want to do will be no burden on taxpayers; we’ll be asking for donations and volunteers to do the work.”

Matthew Colin Bailey, a graduate student at the University of Kentucky School of Architecture, Metropolitan Office of Design and Research studio, has volunteered his time with a rendering of a re-designed chapel, which would cost a little more than $9,000. King and the two Frankfort Kiwanis chapter presidents, Doug Newton and Chuck Fletcher, will be discussing the plans and how to raise funds. Frankfort’s two legislators say separation of church and state is not an issue with the chapel in the Capitol.

Rep. Derrick Graham says he has not personally used the chapel, but sees no conflict “having a place for a person to have devotion.” “If renovations are all on a voluntary basis, I have no problem.” Neither does Sen. Julian Carroll. “I’ve used it quite often through the years for the purpose of private prayer and guidance,” says Carroll. “And I have never heard a complaint about the chapel being there.” “It is little or no expense to the Capitol maintenance, and as long as taxpayer dollars are not used to refurbish it, I see no problem at all.”

The Kentucky Capitol’s chapel is not unique. Indiana has a small meditation room, and Illinois has a chapel. They are open to the public, but are used primarily by legislators.

Vicki Pettus: State Journal.