Capitol Flooding Traced to Guv’s Office

February 13th, 2008 at 09:46am Aaron Chambers

Flooding in the Capitol caused by burst pipes, and which has shuttered the building’s main door all this week, apparently was thanks to open doors in the governor’s office.

The State Journal-Register reported today that guards walking the Capitol Sunday night discovered it was particularly cold near the governor’s second floor office.

On Tuesday, Henry Haupt, spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White, gave this account of what happened:

Between 11:30 p.m. and midnight Sunday, a Capitol security guard was making rounds in the building. He realized it was “really cold” on the north end of the second floor, where there are offices for the governor’s staff and others.

However, the guard did not have a key to get into the area. The guard inquired with Illinois State Police officers stationed at the Executive Mansion about getting into the office suite.

“In the meantime,” Haupt said, “Capitol security was able to gain access without damaging the door.”

Once inside, they saw that doors leading to a balcony over the Capitol’s north entrance were open.

“They said it was extremely cold in there,” Haupt said.

Officers also discovered some ceiling tiles inside the office had been blown off. Capitol maintenance staff replaced the tiles, and state police officers secured the office. The work was finished about 1 a.m.

The governor’s staffers use the balcony to smoke. I once saw the governor’s buddies out there drinking beer at the end of session. Must be nice to have a balcony. Maybe in the future, they’ll securely close the door after they use it.

Entry Filed under: Rod Blagojevich, Uncategorized