U-Va. Rotunda waits in line for repairs

[mahatmakanejeeves]

The teabaggers have unlimited funds to sue the place, but spend money fixing it up? No way.

U-Va. Rotunda waits in line for repairs

By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 2, 2011

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Thomas Jefferson's Rotunda, the historic heart of the University of Virginia, is among the most iconic structures in higher education. Yet a close inspection reveals that the proud Corinthian capitals above its entrance are crumbling. The elevator jams at inopportune moments. The roof leaks.

Coming up with the money to fix a building of such gravitas might seem a simple affair. Jefferson's university is a storied "public Ivy," with a $5 billion endowment. Someone could, presumably, write a check.

But the endowment is largely off-limits for capital projects. And Virginia lawmakers closed their annual session Sunday without budgeting a single dollar toward the $51 million Rotunda renovation. University leaders are prepared to raise nearly half the cost from donors - but only if the General Assembly commits to paying the other half.
....

"The Rotunda is the part of the university - not the basketball team, not the football team, not the marching band - the Rotunda is the symbol around the world for which the university is known," said Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath), a former gubernatorial candidate. "We have an obligation to fix it."

Edited:

I think it was renovated for the Bicentennial, in 1976, but I couldn't say what has been done to it since then.