Political consultant and GrassrootsLab partner Mike Madrid has had plenty of exciting moments in his career, but discovering a hidden trove of California history has got to take top billing.
Mike is a volunteer and board member of the Developmental Disabilities Service Organization, a non-profit dedicated to enriching the lives of those with special needs. He was recently going through DDSO’s old belongings at its property in Carmichael when he noticed a large storage container collecting dirt out back and decided to open it.
“It was like this gold mine opening up, purely coincidentally, and I immediately recognized what most of the pieces were,” he told the Sacramento Bee.
They were fragments of the original state Capitol, some of them dating all the way back to the late 1800s. There were moldings, ceiling medallions, tiles, office doors, and reliefs from the building’s 1975 restoration nestled in a “time capsule” just waiting to be discovered.
John Worsley, the project’s architect, had donated the artifacts to DDSO decades ago. Perhaps he was hoping someone would come along and find it one day.
Ironically, Mike discovered the artifacts just as the Capitol is undergoing another $755 million renovation. Now, he hopes some of the original pieces can be incorporated. He has already notified Assemblyman Ken Cooley who is overseeing the latest project.
“Plans for additions to the Capitol are still in its initial stages, but it’s good we had contact with him so that he’s aware of this,” Mike told the Bee. “If we can incorporate some of this stuff into the new renovation, that would be amazing.”
Read more about Mike’s incredible discovery here.