Elmont Online

ALBANY -- The state Capitol's new look has begun to take shape.

A month ago, the fifth-floor space above the state Senate staircase resembled a warren of offices after a visit from a medium-sized tornado.

Today, it's almost completely emptied out and ready for the structural and cosmetic work that will make way for the installation of a skylight.

A few steps away in the central space known as Tower Hall, the transformation is even more remarkable: Scaffolding and plastic sheeting required by the final stages of asbestos abatement have departed, leaving an airy cube lit by sunlight from an open portal above, interrupted by a platform that will eventually serve as home of the Legislature's bill-drafting operation.

Inside and atop the Capitol, there's still plenty of work to do on the renovation and restoration that's taken more than a decade and cost almost $50 million. But the outlines of the finished work on the most extensive redesign of the Capitol in decades are much more visible.

The work is being completed on a stepped-up schedule following Gov. Andrew Cuomo's request that the Office of General Services should review the final phase of the Capitol project for streamlining and cost-cutting. This spring, Cuomo and OGS officials announced a new timetable that will see major exterior work completed by the end of this year, and interior work largely wrapped up by October 2012 -- more than two years ahead of schedule -- for a net savings of about $2 million.

Since May, the number of construction workers on the site has grown from 50 to 135, and two shifts are in operation a total of 19 hours a day, according to OGS.

The final phase of the overhaul is taking place on the Capitol's east side. Generally, the work is more complete at the northern end, where a corridor and set of restrooms would be almost ready for use if they weren't located in a construction site. Atop the Assembly staircase, a new skylight is scheduled to be installed by the end of August; an interior "laylight" will be completed by mid-November. A balcony offering an up-close view of the laylight above and the plunging view down the Assembly staircase is likely to become a highlight of future Capitol tours.

Tower Hall is slated to be done by the end of the year while the southernmost work area, over the Senate staircase, should be finished by October 2012.