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At the heart of Springfield, the Illinois State Capitol rises in cast iron and limestone. Its zinc-plated dome gleams high above the city’s skyline. For more than two decades, CORE Construction has played a central role in the building’s continual evolution. From high-profile chamber renovations to the ongoing transformation of the Capitol’s North Wing, our work has spanned restoration and demolition while blending delicate craftsmanship with modern innovation. Through interviews with CORE Superintendent Mike Reynolds, Design Partner Vinci Hamp's Tony Prom, and Architect David L. Finnigan from the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, the following series of features explores the complexity and care behind the evolution of one of the Midwest’s most visible civic landmarks. They highlight the challenges that arise when there are no 19th-century blueprints to rely on and how trust between team members isn’t just helpful, but essential. The majority of the work has taken place in active spaces, surrounded by lawmakers, schoolchildren, and visiting constituents and every task has required careful coordination—not just to meet modern standards, but to do so without disturbing the character of the Capitol itself. These stories reside within that balance between history and necessity or tradition and innovation. CORE’s work at the Illinois State Capitol isn’t just defined by what is seen, but by what is preserved, protected, and quietly carried forward for generations of future Midwesterners.
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The Capitol may look timeless, but for the past two decades, CORE has led the task of undoing the missteps of past renovations and restoring the building’s original character while integrating modern mechanical, electrical, and life safety systems into a space that was never designed to house them. When the state’s General Assembly approved the sixth iteration of the Capitol in 1867, its members could not have conceived of modern conveniences like air conditioning or extensive data lines.....
“When a Client doesn’t have a construction background, there is an inherent demand for us to walk them through every aspect of the process to make sure that they have a clear understanding of things–things that we as builders may otherwise take for granted.”
TOTAL VALUE OF ILLINOIS STATE CAPITOL BUILDING RENOVATION PROJECT
$260M
SQUARE FOOTAGE OF ILLINOIS STATE CAPITOL BUILDING RENOVATION PROJECT
110K+
CORE PROJECTS COMPLETED FOR THE STATE OF ILLINOIS OFFICE OF THE ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL
31
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"NOT ONLY WAS IT A COOL EXPERIENCE TO SERVE THE ASU COACHING STAFF AND TEAM THAT I KNEW, BUT TO BE ABLE TO APPLY MY CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE BASEBALL PROGRAM THAT I AM AN ALUMNUS OF WAS OBVIOUSLY A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME EXPERIENCE."
GARRETT TRICE
PROJECT ENGINEER CORE TEXAS
CORE MIDWEST Illinois State Capitol North Wing Renovation
NOTABLE STORY
The Illinois Capitol North Wing Renovation project, currently under construction for the State of Illinois Office of the Architect of the Capitol, includes the addition, demolition, renovation, and restoration of 110,380 square feet of the historic structure located in Springfield, IL. The project includes a complete demo of existing finishes and mechanicals, and the renovation will consist of the replacement of historic plaster, historic painting, and stone and wood finishes. CORE and our Trade Partners will also build several new features, such as a new conference center and a north entryway. The project is constructed on a concrete foundation supported by footings, drilled concrete piers, stone columns, a masonry exterior, and a metal panel and single-ply roof.
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"Personally, for me, I've always liked the historical aspect of this work," said CORE Superintendent Mike Reynolds. "You're trying to recreate history versus just throwing up an office building." Reynolds has been part of CORE Construction’s renovation efforts at the Illinois State Capitol for nearly two decades. By working through phases, the team has peeled away the remnants of mid-century modifications and returned its spaces to something closer to their original 19th-century state. Between the 1950s and 1970s, the State of Illinois faced significant office space shortages. To avoid building an entirely new structure...
RESTORING A LEGACY
BLENDING MODERN WITH HISTORIC
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“No place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be.”
Having one architect on a project is standard. Having three? That is a unique challenge. On the Travis County Fire Station No. 7 and Training Center Project, responsibilities were split among three firms: Brinkley Sargent Wiginton Architects (BSW) oversaw the fire station itself, Martinez Architects designed the Training Center and all civil and infrastructure work beginning 5-feet from the station, and G2 Solutions Group handled the burn buildings. While this division ensured that each element had a specialized team behind it, it also meant more coordination meetings, more RFIs, and more proactive problem-solving to ensure that all the moving parts fit together.
The Capitol never really stops. Even as scaffolding rises and wires snake through its walls, the business of government presses on. For the crews restoring its bones, progress isn’t just measured in man-hours or milestones, it’s measured in moments of quiet, when the building pauses just long enough to let the work continue. "You have to be extra sensitive for smoke and dust and smells and noise," said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. "So, the governor has his office on the second floor of the east wing, and they'll call us and they'll have us shut everything down or minimize the noise because he's giving a press conference." It’s a rhythm CORE Construction has come to know well. Over the years, the team has learned how to time a jackhammer between committee meetings, how to thread conduit through walls without...
WORKING IN RHYTHM
Trust isn’t a milestone on this project; it is cemented in its foundation. At the Illinois State Capitol, relationships have been built by one solution, one favor, one handshake at a time. Over the decades, CORE Construction and its Trade Partners have shaped more than the building itself. They have shaped how people work together within it. For CORE Superintendent Mike Reynolds, who’s spent the better part of 20 years working on and around the Capitol, that trust has been earned and it is evident by the number of hellos and handshakes he receives while navigating its buzzing halls. "It’s trust. We have each other’s trust," Reynolds said...
BUILT ON TRUST
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JOSHUA HUNEYCUTT
PROJECT SUPERINTENDENT CORE TEXAS
“We recognized the schedule risks early, identified problem areas, and adjusted. Our team made sure that every trade knew the timeline and had a plan in place so we could keep things moving forward.”
Our Mission is to earn the trust of our Employees, Building Partners and Clients. Achieving this mission begins by building teams with members who have unwavering, comprehensive trust in one another, YOU!
"The thing about challenges is that they are also learning experiences. I like to learn, and you learn from challenges."
BEN LEWIS
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER CORE TEXAS
MIKE REYNOLDS
PROJECT SUPERINTENDENT CORE MIDWEST
"Personally, for me, I've always liked the historical aspect of this work," said CORE Superintendent Mike Reynolds. "You're trying to recreate history versus just throwing up an office building."
No two rooms at the Capitol reveal themselves the same way. Each holds its own discoveries of details long hidden, materials layered over, and stories waiting within the walls. For CORE and its Trade Partners, renovation often begins with what is uncovered, not what’s on paper. Especially when the paper is nowhere to be found. "When you tear into a building that's over 100 years old, you find things that nobody knew was there," said CORE Superintendent Mike Reynolds. "There are no original drawings to go by so once we demo into it, you see it." David Finnigan, Project Architect with the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, has come to expect the unexpected. "We come across many challenges every week, if not every month...
UNEARTHING HISTORY
Some construction projects are measured in square footage. Others in budget or complexity. But for Superintendent Mike Reynolds, the Illinois State Capitol renovation in Springfield is defined by something far more personal—his life story. The building gave him more than a paycheck, it gave him a family. Reynolds, who is overseeing the ongoing North Wing Renovation project for CORE, didn’t just help shape the Capitol over the past nearly 20 years—he found his wife, raised his daughters, and built lifelong relationships within its walls...
A MARK LEFT BEHIND
In April, we launched the Notable Story series to spotlight the projects and people across CORE who stand out for their problem-solving, teamwork, and on-the-ground impact. Our first feature highlighted a CORE Texas team and their work on the $27.6 million Travis County Fire Station No. 7 and Training Center in Manor, TX. Designed to enhance firefighter training capabilities, the project came with its fair share of challenges. But with strong coordination and a solutions-driven mindset, the team navigated these complexities with skill. Superintendents Joshua Huneycutt, Robert Faurie and Ceasar Martinez led the way alongside veteran Senior Project Manager Ben Lewis and Project Engineer Garrett Trice. “Being proactive, managing communications, and building strong working relationships between our team, the architects, and owners has been essential to our success here. The CORE team has always been open and willing to communicate,” said Lewis.
We are always gathering ideas for upcoming features and would love your input. Whether it’s a standout project, a team going above and beyond, or something that deserves more visibility, let us know by contacting the National Marketing Team or by emailing National Communications Manager Brandon Thibodeaux directly at brandonthibodeaux@coreltd.com.
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CORE Superintendent, Mike Reynolds, speaking about the legacy of workers at the Capitol.
"During our first renovation of the West Wing, a carpenter pulled a piece of woodwork off and realized his grandfather had actually signed that piece of trim when he first installed it."
The care poured into each of these tasks hasn’t gone unnoticed. "The last renovation on the West Wing was featured in AIA Magazine, winning an architectural award," Reynolds said. "CORE was prominently mentioned, and it was an honor to be part of an award-winning historic renovation." Finnigan reflected on what this work means, not just for the Capitol, but for Illinois. "This building is an expression of the fact that we here in the Midwest are just as advanced, just as cultured, just as civilized as New York, or as Paris or London," he said. "And CORE is bringing in the best of the best to continue a tradition that was started in the 19th century. Over 150 years later, they are coming in with the best possible team, the best plasterers, finished carpenters, ornamental painters, and continuing a tradition of excellence and superior craftsmanship that has always existed here." The Illinois State Capitol stands as a lasting symbol of the state’s heritage. Through careful restoration, CORE’s contribution to this legacy is ensuring the efforts of generations of craftsmen continue to echo well into the future.
Finnigan continued, “This building is an office building for the state government, but it's also a monument to the people of Illinois. So, in effect, what CORE has been doing is restoring our monument.” That sense of purpose has been carried across generations. Reynolds shared a moment from an earlier phase of work that still stands out to him. "During our first renovation of the West Wing, a carpenter pulled a piece of woodwork off and realized his grandfather had actually signed that piece of trim when he first installed it," he said. "He was a third-generation carpenter at the Capitol. Out of all the wood there, what are the chances of that grandson pulling off the same piece his grandfather touched? That is one of the coolest stories we've had here."
"Personally, for me, I've always liked the historical aspect of this work," said CORE Superintendent Mike Reynolds. "You're trying to recreate history versus just throwing up an office building." Reynolds has been part of CORE Construction’s renovation efforts at the Illinois State Capitol for nearly two decades. By working through phases, the team has peeled away the remnants of mid-century modifications and returned its spaces to something closer to their original 19th-century state. Between the 1950s and 1970s, the State of Illinois faced significant office space shortages. To avoid building an entirely new structure, mezzanine floors were instead inserted into existing rooms, doubling capacity yet compromising the original design. “They took these rooms where you had a floor-to-ceiling height of about 20 feet, and said, ‘Hey, we can insert another floor here and double our floor space,’” said David L. Finnigan, Project Architect with the Office of the Architect of the Capitol. "The problem is that they were really disrupting the ornamental character of these rooms. And so, here we are, 60 or so years later, removing the mezzanines and restoring the original architectural character."
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The restoration work has extended to elements rarely seen in modern construction. Chandeliers have been remade from historical photographs by St. Louis Antiques. Custom millwork has been installed to match original profiles by Imperial Woodworking. Even the carpet has its own story. "The Senate Chamber carpet is handsewn and comes in 27-inch rolls from England," Reynolds said. "A family from Cincinnati, a mom, dad and their sons, handsewn all those carpet seams together during the installation. They even worked on Christmas Day to get it done because we had to have the chamber open by January. I mean, that family spent their Christmas Day here sewing carpet by hand to meet the schedule! One of the state guys actually brought them Christmas dinner."
Life-size mockups of chandeliers made by St. Louis Antiques are prepared for hanging in a first-floor hallway of the North Wing.
Mike Reynolds, Project Superintendent, describing the success of the previous Capitol renovation project performed by CORE.
“THE LAST RENOVATION ON THE WEST WING WAS FEATURED IN AIA MAGAZINE, WINNING AN ARCHITECTURAL AWARD, AND CORE WAS FEATURED PROMINENTLY."
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Detail image of fin tube housing running vertically along the height of the window.
Mike Reynolds, Project Superintendent, reflecting on the complexity of the Capitol renovations.
“We're trying to retrofit a 150-year-old building with every modern thing there is.”
Such deliberate and creative approaches to historical renovation extend to even the smallest details, like custom-made door hardware and modern mortise lock sets adapted to original antique doorknobs. Adaptations like these testify to CORE’s ability to innovate while still preserving the structure's history. Now, as the warm air glides across the Capitol's cool windows and the steady stream of State government hums behind its plaster walls, CORE and its Trade Partners are bringing innovation to the forefront of the Capitol's evolution by weaving the modern seamlessly within the historical facade.
“We’re putting the exterior back to how it used to be but with modern technology behind it,” Prom said. “Now you have these louvers and all of the mechanical elements enclosed.” David Finnigan, Project Architect from the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, emphasized the thoughtful reuse of original structural channels within the Capitol to facilitate modern updates. “This building was designed to have steam heat in the 1800s so there's pipe chases for the steam supply, and the condensate return lines are actually in the window jambs,” Finnigan said.
“They made the fin tubes run all the way up the sides of the window with ductwork beneath. It basically looks like a football goal post inside the wall surrounding the window,” added Superintendent Reynolds. “To do this, we had to channel out the brick around the window and put structural steel in there to support the brick arches above. Then we ran the ductwork. The internal fans in the system now blow hot air across the window and it cycles back.” Now, the windows are defrosted by using internal fans to propel the air from the fin tubes running the full height along both sides. It's a blend of historical craftsmanship and contemporary engineering. A truly one-of-a-kind concept that required rigorous testing and collaboration. The lead mechanical engineer with Henneman Engineering built a mockup of the heating system in his own barn to confirm its effectiveness. Once tested and refined, the design was then integrated into the building.
One especially innovative solution arose as the teams addressed frost issues on historical windows. The conventional heating systems initially installed during the 2008 West Wing renovation proved inadequate, prompting the development of a new groundbreaking design. Designer Tony Prom of Chicago-based Vinci Hamp Architects explained, "In the West Wing, we installed standard fin tube heaters, but we realized that there wasn’t enough warm air reaching the top of the window and they still frosted over.” This led the team to develop a design that channels hot air through ducts that are carefully hidden behind the restored brick walls, ensuring the historic look of the windows remained unchanged.
The Capitol may look timeless, but for the past two decades, CORE has led the task of undoing the missteps of past renovations and restoring the building’s original character while integrating modern mechanical, electrical, and life safety systems into a space that was never designed to house them. When the state’s General Assembly approved the sixth iteration of the Capitol in 1867, its members could not have conceived of modern conveniences like air conditioning or extensive data lines. “We're trying to retrofit a 150-year-old building with every modern thing there is,” explained Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “There are miles of conduit, and the building will be fully covered by sprinklers, so we're doing things like channeling through brick walls to hide the lines behind the plaster. This process is three or four times as long as running conduit for a metal stud building.”
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If the wood paneling and window jambs were to be removed, the brickwork behind is actually hollow. “It goes straight down to the basement, and in a lot of cases, it continues up to the floor above. They ran the radiators right there in the window, and then the steam lines were concealed in the wall,” explained Finnigan He added, “So, now that CORE and their Trade Partners have put those new window heaters in, the piping for them is using the same chases that were built 150 years ago. It's the same idea as the original concept but with a new twist.”
David Finnigan, Project Architect from the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, emphasized the thoughtful reuse of original structural channels within the Capitol to facilitate modern updates.
"It's the same idea as the original concept but with a twist."
"We're getting ready to do the domestic water changeover," Reynolds said. "So, we are coordinating with the engineers, the state plumbers, and the Office of the Architect to see when we can schedule the shutdown. We've also been doing a lot of electrical switch shutdowns. So, we have to do those after hours or on Saturdays." Even emergency exits must be carefully choreographed. "We actually built scaffold over a fire exit, and then we put the temporary air handlers up on that scaffold. We had a privacy fence positioned all the way down," he said. "So, if there was a fire, people could walk through and we made sure they were routed correctly so they don’t wander into the construction." Finnigan added, "The legislature will be in session for two weeks, then they'll be on vacation for a week and return. So, there's certain work that we ask CORE and their Trade Partners to do on the legislature’s vacation time or on Saturdays." And yet, the building rarely sleeps. "CORE and their Trade Partners are only working on about one-fifth of the whole building at any time, if you count the dome and rotunda. We can't shut down the whole building," Finnigan said.
The Capitol never really stops. Even as scaffolding rises and wires snake through its walls, the business of government presses on. For the crews restoring its bones, progress isn’t just measured in man-hours or milestones, it’s measured in moments of quiet, when the building pauses just long enough to let the work continue. "You have to be extra sensitive for smoke and dust and smells and noise," said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. "So, the governor has his office on the second floor of the east wing, and they'll call us and they'll have us shut everything down or minimize the noise because he's giving a press conference." It’s a rhythm that CORE Construction has come to know well. Over the years, the team has learned how to time a jackhammer between committee meetings, how to thread conduit through walls without disturbing a press event and how to disappear when the building demands quiet.
David L. Finnigan of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol has watched it unfold firsthand. "CORE has always been very helpful, very flexible in working with our schedule, which in turn is dictated by the General Assembly in the legislature. A large part of that comes from the fact that CORE had already worked on the West Wing." There are days when the work pushes forward through patience alone. Water systems can’t be switched without coordination across departments. Power must be rerouted after hours or on weekends. The Capitol moves slowly—but always forward.
A temporary wall was constructed at the entrance of the North Wing in the grand hall of the Capitol to block public access and insulate the sound of construction during business hours.
That reality means more than just logistics. Sometimes it calls for redesign. Other times, for restraint. "A catastrophic fire was started in a computer-generated model of the building and it was determined that changes were required. That's why we're putting in the new staircases and all of the life safety elements, because they found that the people working up on the upper floors wouldn’t make it out fast enough," Reynolds explained. Still, the approach is always the same. "Our people just keep rolling," Reynolds said. "If we see that we can't work here, we go over there. We just keep the ball rolling, that's the only way we can overcome. We try not to stop, you know? You just gotta keep on rolling." In a space where history, politics, and preservation converge, the work is about more than what gets built. It's about how it gets done—quietly, carefully, and always in step with the heartbeat of the building itself.
"Over the years, the team has learned how to time a jackhammer between committee meetings, how to thread conduit through walls without disturbing a press event and how to disappear when the building demands quiet."
"Mike and his team know that there is going to be something that might need to change with anything I give them," Prom said. "They know that there are times when we’ll have to figure it out together. But I'm doing my level best to tell them the direction we’re taking. You know, we all have issues. I could draw something and make a mistake, but I accept that I'm not perfect. That's why we always rely on Mike and his team. No one else would be able to do this, because they have experienced it before. They’ve seen it all and the CORE team understands the complications."
"I got to know everybody from the security guards to the custodians," he said. "For instance, we had a deal where the floor tile was all scuffed up on the West Wing, and I didn’t think it was going to pass the Client's final inspection. Well, I went and talked to the custodian and he took care of it. It worked out to our benefit but, if he knows if he ever needs something, I’ll return the favor." That spirit of mutual respect has carried across the design team, too. Designer Tony Prom of Vinci Hamp Architects described the workflow as one built on open dialogue and shared humility.
Trust isn’t a milestone on this project; it is cemented in its foundation. At the Illinois State Capitol, relationships have been built by one solution, one favor, one handshake at a time. Over the decades, CORE Construction and its Trade Partners have shaped more than the building itself. They have shaped how people work together within it. For CORE Superintendent Mike Reynolds, who’s spent the better part of 20 years working on and around the Capitol, that trust has been earned and it is evident by the number of hellos and handshakes he receives while navigating its buzzing halls. "It’s trust. We have each other’s trust," Reynolds said. "When you treat people right, you earn the Client’s respect. Mark Flowers, from the Office of the Architect, trusts that if he tells me to go into the Governor's office, then he knows with certainty that I won’t do anything to jeopardize him. The Client trusts us to do the right thing." Reynolds isn’t just familiar with the people who pass through the Capitol, he’s embedded in its daily rhythm.
CORE Superintendent Mike Reynolds looks through historic photographs of the Capitol with Architect Tony Prom of Vinci Hamp Architects, as the two recall stories of working alongside one another for nearly 20 years.
There is no form to fill out for that kind of trust. No policy, no RFI. It is built project by project, sketch by sketch, handshake by handshake. It is something that is earned over time, and felt in the ease of knowing someone has your back before you even ask. “CORE has anticipated our needs, even when they didn't necessarily have to,” Finnigan noted. “There’s been plenty of examples where CORE has brought added value with its work.”
That willingness to adapt, to listen, to revise, and to stay one step ahead is what keeps the team aligned. Prom described how the length of the working relationship has smoothed even the roughest challenges. "A lot of trust comes from working with someone for nearly 20 years. I mean, a lot of trust," he said. "When we have issues, we call Mike, and Mike looks at it and can say, ‘Oh, that’s not doable and here is the reason why.’ Well, I understand what Mike means when he says that. If it were somebody else, I'd maybe question it."
CORE Superintendent, Mike Reynolds, emphasizing the importance of developing trust with the Client.
"It’s trust. We have each other’s trust. When you treat people right, you earn the Client’s respect. The Client trusts us to do the right thing."
The Capitol is a structure, but it’s also an exchange between its history and the hands and eyes working to preserve it. "Preserving the historical aspect of this is a hurdle. It isn’t easy," Prom said. "It is like archaeology; you have to decipher things. But the most exciting part of this process has been in tearing out the old construction and rediscovering the original intent of the building." These discoveries stretch from major structural revelations down to quiet, ornamental details. From scanned ceilings to buried beams, the restoration of the Capitol is less about returning to a single moment in time and more about honoring every layer that time left behind.
Discovering unknowns is not the only issue the teams would encounter, interpretation is also a significant part of the restoration process. "Even after discovering all of that, oftentimes what we found had already been painted over. So, Evergreen would have their guys do research to get the appropriate colors for the ceiling and all of the other ornate details." Prom added, "Take the lay light in the Senate for instance. We were figuring out the color pattern of the stained glass based on old black and white photos. I initially made a diagram of what I saw, like those steel brackets, I assumed that it's a steel tube. I’d confirm and then generate the pattern while Evergreen deciphered the colors. Then we could lay it all out and say, ‘Maybe this was yellow,’ or ‘Let's try these colors.’”
Without a full set of original documents, much of the design process has relied on old photos, site investigations, and field notes. "In the design phase, I didn't have any documents telling me what that original ceiling looked like. So, we came and took photos of the hidden ceiling because no one knew to look for it when the room was originally scanned for initial modeling," Prom said. "We just kept doing research. We'd open up an area, note what we saw, and apply the new information into our model."
The uncertainty that comes with not having complete historical drawings has made every wall, floor, and ceiling a puzzle to solve. "So, what will happen,” said Finnigan, “is that the contractor will open up a wall, which he presumes is just solid brick masonry, but instead he finds that there's a truss inside of it, that no one knew about. That is exactly what happened, maybe a year and a half ago, in the North Wing. They found a huge truss, and the architects had to revise their floor plan." And then there are the discoveries no drawing could predict. Designer Tony Prom has spent years building and refining 3D models of the Capitol, trying to anticipate what lies behind every wall. But even the models can only go so far. "We didn't know what was behind those drop ceilings until we opened up one section and discovered the elaborate original ceilings above," Prom said. "That's when we made the decision to demo everything."
No two rooms at the Capitol reveal themselves the same way. Each holds its own discoveries of details long hidden, materials layered over, and stories waiting within the walls. For CORE and its Trade Partners, renovation often begins with what is uncovered, not what’s on paper. Especially when the paper is nowhere to be found. "When you tear into a building that's over 100 years old, you find things that nobody knew was there," said CORE Superintendent Mike Reynolds. "There are no original drawings to go by so once we demo into it, you see it." David Finnigan, Project Architect with the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, has come to expect the unexpected. "We come across many challenges every week, if not every month, something new always comes up. A lot of it has to do with either one of two categories. One is the fact that we cannot shut down. The other is unforeseen conditions because we don't have a full set of the original drawings from the 19th century."
CORE Superintendent, Mike Reynolds, discussing the complexities of renovating a historic structure.
"When you tear into a building that's over 100 years old, you find things that nobody knew was there. There are no original drawings to go by so once we demo into it, you see it."
A detailed view of a taped-off paint sample created by Trade Partner, Evergreen, to determine the appropriate color palette for the North Wing's first floor ceiling.
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Some construction projects are measured in square footage. Others in budget or complexity. But for Superintendent Mike Reynolds, the Illinois State Capitol renovation in Springfield is defined by something far more personal—his life story. The building gave him more than a paycheck, it gave him a family. Reynolds, who is overseeing the ongoing North Wing Renovation project for CORE, didn’t just help shape the Capitol over the past nearly 20 years—he found his wife, raised his daughters, and built lifelong relationships within its walls.
Reynolds has been part of multiple phases of Capitol restoration, from the building's West Wing, its Senate and House Chambers, to today's North Wing remodel. He has overseen the installation of hand-sewn carpet flown in from England and the removal and conservation of one-of-a-kind historic murals and portraits. His deep familiarity with the building—its quirks, hidden elements, and history—has become a rare asset. Now, as the North Wing nears substantial completion, Reynolds reflects on the journey. “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve been working on this building for so long, in some ways it’ll be harder to say goodbye than to other projects. But after all this time, I’ve left my mark.” He pauses, and smiles. And it's clear that it's certainly left its mark on him.
Four years later, he returned to add Reilen’s. “It’s a hike to get to the top, but I had to go back up there,” he says. “You can see for miles. The Springfield airport looks so close. From up there, you can almost see the curve of the earth.” That personal connection echoes in how Reynolds treats the job—and the people around it. “I got to know everyone here. One of the former Sergeants-at-Arms once called and said, ‘Hey, my wife needs a wall built in her basement.’ So I went over and helped him out,” Reynolds says. “After that, anytime I needed access or help at the Capitol, he did everything he could for us. It’s just being a good neighbor—those relationships go both ways.”
“In high school, Angie—my wife—was one of the Capitol pages. She’d run papers in and out of the chambers,” he says. Years later, a mutual connection on the project site introduced them, and the rest, as he puts it, is history. The couple married in 2009. “Angie already had my oldest daughter, Layken, when we met. She was one. Four years later, we had our youngest, Reilen.” At 361 feet and with the top of the flagpole reaching 405 feet, the Illinois Capitol dome is the tallest non-skyscraper capitol dome in the nation. Reynolds has climbed it more than once. On one of those trips, he scribbled Layken’s name at the top. Four years later, he returned to add Reilen’s. “It’s a hike to get to the top, but I had to go back up there,” he says. “You can see for miles. The Springfield airport looks so close. From up there, you can almost see the curve of the earth.”
