last week, the architect of the capital, stephen ayres, held a press conference to provide an update on the $60 million project. >> good morning, thank you all for coming. my name is justin kiefer. i am the senior communications specialist for the architect of the capital, specifically on the dome restoration project. today, mr. ayers will comment on the project and answer a few questions. all that documents, photos, and videos are available on our website. let's present mr. ayers, architect of the capitol. >> thanks costa -- thanks, justin. thank you all for being here. take you for your interest in the capital dome project. as architect of the capitol, what an awesome responsibility it is to preserve these beautiful, iconic, and treasured buildings the american people and the congress have entrusted to our care. none of them is more important than this beautiful capital dome. i thought today we would talk a little bit about the restoration of the dome. let me start maybe with a little bit of history to set at in context. this is a photograph of when the capitol building was complet