In 1891, Kansas became the 34th state to enter the union. Each year Kansas Day is held to celebrate this event at the capitol building in Topeka, Kansas. At this year’s celebration the Kansas State Historical Society opened the Kansas State Capitol Visitor Center in conjunction with the dedication of the 10 year, 350 million dollar restorations of the Capitol Building.
The visitor’s center features new exhibits that tell the story of the state, its government, its people and the history of the building. There are various photos and artifacts throughout the different areas. One of the most popular exhibits is part of the 306 foot copper dome. Visitors can purchase souvenir pieces of the original green copper dome that has been replaced.
The Kansas State Historical Society was formed in 1875 and is in charge of maintaining the state’s history and operates the Kansas Museum of History, Kansas State Archives and Library, Kansas State Capitol Tour Center, and 15 state-owned sites. As an autonomous agency, it also oversees numerous other historically related functions such as historic preservation, archival photographs and documents, and archeology.
KSHS has worked with Pannier on numerous projects over the past seven years. For the Capitol Building project KSHS used Pannier’s fiberglass embedded panels to display information on artifacts, people and other historical information for the visitor’s center. The ¼ inch thick panels were perfect for mounting to the variety of textured walls of the visitor’s center.
“As an exhibits designer, I found the staff at Pannier very easy to work with, friendly, accommodating, and quick to respond,” said Chris Prouty, Exhibits Director. “Their work speaks for itself, and I am very happy with the end results, as is everyone that has seen the completed project.”