PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Later this week, and for just one night, the South Dakota Capitol dome will be lit in a different and dramatic way.
Rather than a flood of light illuminating the black dome all around, starting at 8 p.m. on Friday, a lone pair of spotlights will shine their beams out through a south window and into the gathering darkness.
The display is meant to be a reminder of the two lanterns that history tells us had hung at North Church in colonial Boston, on a similar night of April 18, but 250 years before, signaling that British troops were on the way.
Of course, there was no South Dakota in 1775. The dream of statehood still was more than 114 years off in the future. Even so, the America’s 250th South Dakota Commission, chaired by Ben Jones, the official state historian, doesn’t want to miss the chance to be part of a nationally symbolic moment.
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Approximately 30 states are holding similar events. It’s part of a run-up to the nation’s semiquincentennial — the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America on July 4, 1776.
What the South Dakota panel has done for its part is arrange with the state Bureau of Human Resources and Administration, the agency in charge of maintaining the Capitol, to place two spotlights in the dome.
Nearly all of the other exterior lights will be turned off. The only ones that will stay lit are the small red ones at the very top, necessary for aircraft safety.
The two beams of light are meant to symbolize the two warning lanterns placed in the church belfry. Paul Revere and William Dawes, after seeing those lanterns, took to horseback and made their ways through the countryside to warn two other Sons of Liberty, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, that the British were heading to arrest them.
The dome spotlights are scheduled to remain lit until 8 a.m. Saturday. Leah Haugen, the bureau’s special projects coordinator, said there isn’t a designated viewing area, but the lights should be bright and easily seen by people looking north at the Capitol.
“This is a national project with many states participating. We encourage other local folks, businesses, churches, and organizations to participate,” Haugen said.
Haugen said she stood at the flagpoles in front of the Capitol’s main stairway entrance during a recent test run. KELOLAND News asked whether a photograph might be available.
Haugen politely demurred.
“I’m not at liberty to share those as it would spoil the event if they were released prior to the 18th,” she said.
