By the 1920s, the Old State Capitol was starting to show its age and proving to be too small for the expanding state government.[20] Proposals were drawn up for a new building, but were never acted upon due to the lack of money and more important issues.[21] In 1928, Huey Long was elected Governor of Louisiana as a populist candidate. Long seized upon the idea of using a new capitol as a way to symbolize the end of the "political domination of Louisiana's traditional social and economic elite" in the state.[14] In January 1930, Long secured funds from the Board of Liquidation, enabling him to hire architects to design the new capitol and approached Leon C. Weiss with the proposal; Weiss' architectural firm Weiss, Dreyfous and Seiferth was well known for its many public buildings it had designed in Louisiana.[14][22] By using funds that he controlled to start the design work, Long prevented the State Legislature from stopping the construction of the capitol. The designs for the capitol consisted of a modern skyscraper, sited on the former campus of the Louisiana State University, and expected to cost $1 million.[23] In a special session of the State Legislature in September 1930, a bond issue for the final cost of the new capitol?$5 million?was passed despite initial reluctance from some of the legislators[24]
