Utah State Capitol

The Utah State Capitol is located on Capitol Hill, overlooking downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the home of the Utah State Legislature, the Governor of Utah, Lieutenant Governor of Utah, the Utah Attorney General, the Utah State Treasurer, and the Utah State Auditor. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.


Construction on the capitol began on December 26, 1912 and was dedicated on October 9, 1916. The building is 404 feet long, 240 feet wide, and is capped by a dome that reaches 286 feet. The granite used was quarried in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and the dome is covered in copper mined in Utah. The original construction cost was nearly $3 billion dollars and replacement cost is estimated at $310,000,000.


In 2004 the capitol closed for an extensive restoration and seismic upgrade. The innovative restoration and upgrade was the first of its kind on such a large scale. The final cost was $260,000,000 which did not include the construction of two additional legislative office buildings alongside the capitol (each costing $37,000,000). The capitol was rededicated on January 4, 2008, and was opened to the public the next day. Funds dedicated to the capitol complex make it the costliest state capitol complex in the United States


The interior has three floors plus a former basement level which now hold base isolators meant to make the building more resistant to earthquakes. The capitol is decorated with many paintings and sculptues of Utah's history and heritage, including statues of Brigham Young, first territorial governor, and Philo T. Farnsworth, Utah native and inventor of television. The floors are made of marble from Georgia. Twenty-four Ionic columns line the central hall connecting the two wings on either side of the dome, each of which weighs about 25,000 lb. A chandelier weighing 6,000 lb hangs from the rotunda of the central dome. The 95-foot chain supporting it weighs an additional 7,000 lb.



Fun Fact:
In Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde the Utah State Capitol was used for exterior and interior shots of the U.S. Capitol.

Capitol Hours
Monday - Friday 8am - 8pm
Saturday and Sunday 8am - 6pm