U. S. Capitol Restoration

A decision to renovate the 1829 original west-central front of the United States Capitol was made in the 1980s, due to the deterioration of its original sandstone façade. Each piece of stone was removed, catalogued, and a fabrication ticket was generated from approved drawings and the original pieces. Bybee Stone Company replicated the original pieces in Indiana limestone—in time and under budget.

Joe Downing, Superintendent of Charles H. Tompkins, was quoted in 1988 regarding the project, Job 564 for Bybee Stone Company. “Restoration is,” he said, “in a lot of cases harder to do than building a new building.” He went on to discuss the procedure, noting that Architect for the Capitol George White wanted each piece duplicated exactly, even going so far as to ship certain stones and original plaster moldings to Bybee to facilitate the job.