LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – After the fanfare of the Elite Eight for men’s March Madness subsided when Michigan State University lost to Kansas State, there still was hope that Michigan might claim victory in another bracket; U.S. Capitol Edition.
Since early March of this year, each of the Capitol’s in the U.S. faced off for their own version of March Madness called “State Capitol Smackdown.”
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Michigan’s nearly 145 year old capitol made it to the final four and then the final three before losing by a margin of merely 4% to the capitol of New Jersey who won 52% to 48%.
“The bracket was set up by the tour service at the New Jersey Capitol,” May Oyler, Engagement Manager for the Michigan Capitol social media accounts said, “They’re the ones who kind of organized all of it, they’re kind of running it; I think this is the first time they’ve done it.”
Michigan’s Capitol Social media helped keep an eye on the bracket and shared the polls on social media, although people’s votes on Twitter and Instagram were only factored into the final scores; New Jersey’s Capitol Social Media organized the bracket for the first time according to Oyler.
While there was no strict criteria for voting, voters could select whichever Capitol they thought was best.
“Whether [you vote for] the state where you live in or a state where you’ve seen the Capitol and you thought it was cool, or if you’re just looking at the pictures, and you just pick one that you liked better than the other,” Oyler said, “It’s just whatever people are fond of.”
Despite Michigan sharing its principal architect, Elijah Myers, with Colorado, and Texas, Michigan’s Capitol was victorious over both of them.
“Architecturally speaking our dome is very important; we were one of the first state capitols to have a big dome up on the top like the USA Capitol, and that became a really popular design after we built our building,” Oyler said, “The other thing that makes us really distinct is our art.”
“Every wall, every ceiling is covered in hand painted details,” she continued, “It’s about nine acres of decorative art when you put it all together- we’re really the best example of Victorian decorative art in the country today.”
Last year, the Michigan Capitol also finished and dedicated the new visitors center wing of the building, Heritage Hall.
The new feature of the building provides a nice “welcome center” that enables visitors to see Michigan’s history and collections, as well as offers another large event space according to Oyler.
She also encouraged the public to check out the Michigan Capitol’s social media accounts which include Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, as well as a Youtube Channel.
“We post kind of anything and everything that is connected to Capitol history, Michigan history, and the legislative work that goes on here, it is all educational focused, and we try to make it interesting and try and make it fun,” Oyler said.
New York’s Capitol triumphed over Pennsylvania, winning 64% of the votes to PA’s 36%. The final two winners will be battling for the first place title between New Jersey and New York on Monday.
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