STATEHOUSE CALENDAR

The Ohio Statehouse will celebrate Earth Day by offering a FREE fossil tour on Capitol Square.  The special tour will take place on Friday, April 20 from noon until 1 p.m.  The tour will depart from the Map Room, located on the ground floor of the Ohio Statehouse.  Participants will explore the building stones that make up the Ohio Statehouse and Senate Office Building.  The tour will be conducted by Dale M. Gnidovic, Curator of the OSU Orton Geological Museum, and E. Mac Swinford, Assistant State Geologist at ODNR Division of Geological Survey.  While the event is free, participants are asked to RSVP to Luke Stedke at lstedke@csrab.state.oh.us or 614/728-2697.

Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the planet’s natural environment. The Ohio Statehouse is an ideal place to celebrate Earth Day, as the building is a natural classroom and laboratory to view fossils.

The Ohio Statehouse is constructed of Columbus Limestone.  Columbus Limestone is of the Middle Devonian age and was named for the city where it has long been quarried. The Columbus Limestone crops out in a north-south line from Kelleys Island in Lake Erie to south of Columbus. The limestone was formed in a clear, shallow, tropical sea that covered the state almost 400 million years ago. Fossils of marine animals are abundant in the Columbus Limestone and can be seen throughout the Capitol Square complex.