Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City
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Utah became a state in 1896 but by 1909 no capitol had yet been constructed. Governor William Spry, recognizing that Utah was one of only a few states without a capitol building, sent a proposal to the state legislature asking for the creation of a new commission to oversee the construction of a capitol. It was designed by architect Richard K.A. Kletting, and built between 1912 and 1916.
The capitol's architect was inspired by Classical architecture, and some local newspapers compared the early designs to Greece's Parthenon. Many of the building's details rely on the Corinthian style, in which formality, order, proportion and line are essential design elements. The building is 404 feet feet long, 240 feet feet wide, and the dome is 250 feet high. The exterior is constructed of Utah granite (Quartz monzonite mined in nearby Little Cottonwood Canyon). Fifty-two Corinthian columns, each 32 feet tall by 3.5 feet in diameter sitting on an exposed foundation podium, surround around the south (front), east and west sides of the capitol
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