Governor Pat Quinn is putting the brakes on renovations to the Illinois state capitol building. The revamp of the historic building has become the source of some campaign drama after some of the costs for the project were revealed. The state appropriated $50 million for the already-completed West Wing of the building - including copper plated wooden doors that cost nearly $670,000.
This grabbed the attention of many officials - including Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Bill Daley.
Governor Quinn says he thinks the spending is excessive - and he’s told his budget director to stop appropriations for future renovations.
"We don’t need to have the palace of Versailles at our state capitol. And the particular architect here - Mr. J. Richard Alsop III - needs to be reigned in by the legislative commission that he reports to." - Governor Pat Quinn
The architect for the Capitol didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Illinois Public Radio's Lauren Chooljian contributed to this report.
