Dome donors recognized in ring of honor

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The Oklahoma state Capitol's new dome will be a showcase for more than the state seal. It will also bear the names of the dome's major corporate and private sponsors. <br><br>The

Sunday, September 29th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The Oklahoma state Capitol's new dome will be a showcase for more than the state seal. It will also bear the names of the dome's major corporate and private sponsors.

The names of 13 donors who contributed $1 million or more to the $21 million dome project have been inscribed in 6-inch-tall letters in a ring at the base of the 155-foot-tall dome. The names are about two stories above the closest viewing point.

Among the names are Phillips Petroleum Co., which contributed $3.5 million, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, $2.5 million, and General Motors, Hobby Lobby Stores and the family of state Sen. Gene Stipe, D-McAlester, each of whom contributed $1 million to the project.

The interior of the unfinished dome, still full of scaffolding, remains cordoned off from the general public and the ring of honor has not been unveiled.

The Capital Preservation Commission authorized placement of the names on the dome. The only commission member to oppose it was Larry Warden.,

``That just doesn't leave a good taste in my mouth,'' Warden said.

``I just personally had a problem with something called the ring of honor in this building, the Capitol building.''

Warden said major donors should be recognized in some way. But he said a ring of honor sounds more like a tribute to professional football players at the fields where they played.

``When it first came up, I questioned it,'' Warden said. ``I just can't in good judgment be for that. I just can't.''

Another commission member, Arts Council director Betty Price, said the ring of honor will not be a billboard or an advertisement, ``but a somewhat artistic presentation of the names.''

``What we saw was something that could be tastefully presented,'' Price said. She said it is an appropriate way to recognize contributions by the project's largest donors.

``Anytime you have donors who make the kind of financial commitment that these donors made, you do want to recognize that,'' Price said. ``It took a huge commitment by major donors to get this project to fruition.''

Blake Wade, executive director of Oklahoma Centennial Commission, said it was important for major donors to get special recognition.

``This was a way to get people to give that caliber of money,'' Wade said. ``We knew that we would have to recognize them in a very, very special way.''

He said a similar ring of honor was developed for major sponsors to the Virginia Historical Building.

``This was a way to separate and recognize how much we needed them to assist us with this. We were going to be criticized if we tried to use state money,'' Wade said.

The project's major donors contributed a total of $17.25 million for the dome, which will cost about $20.8 million. Major donors include the people of Oklahoma, who contributed $1.25 million.

The balance of the dome's cost came from individual contributions that ranged from $500,000 to $10. Some of the larger contributors will be recognized in marble plaques that will be placed on the walls of the Capitol's southside staircase.

``The state is unable to provide the necessary funds for us to preserve and restore these historic properties,'' Wade said. ``It only makes sense to me that those who do give be recognizes. Nowhere else could we possible get $20.8 million.''

``Our state so often can be looked upon as a state that has beauty and brilliant, hardworking people. And we seem to have low self-esteem,'' Price said.

``We are going to have the most beautiful dome in the entire country. I think it is going to be a source of pride.''

The Capitol building, built between 1914 and 1917, was the only Capitol in the nation that was designed for a dome but did not have one.

The new dome is scheduled to be dedicated on Statehood Day, Nov 16.