Earlier this summer, the state’s House and Senate chambers got facelift. The $370,000 renovations included replacing the chamber’s carpet, which was held together by duct tape in several spots.
Now that carpet is being cut up, and put on the market for anyone who wants a piece of legislative tapestry — er, history.
As the Detroit Free Press’s Kathleen Gray reported, at least 170 people have requested swatches of the Senate’s old carpeting, which are “being sold for $25 for an 8-by-14-inch swatch and $50 for a 27-by-27-inch square.”
One interested buyer is state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing), who already has two carpet squares hanging in her office from when her father served as the director of Michigan’s Department of Commerce forty years ago. She’s looking to pick up two more:
“It’s a great opportunity to have a little piece of history,” she said. “And I’ve been fortunate enough to have served in both chambers, so I’ll display a little chunk of the carpet I walked on in that time.”
- Melanie Kruvelis, Michigan Radio Newsroom
