While Ohio is digging in the couch cushions for spare change like a wino in a bus station, the Ohio Supreme Court is building a new palace bigger than the Capitol.

Lawmakers gave the Court $85 million to repair, renovate and remodel the old Ohio Departments Building near the Capitol in Columbus.

The 1933 Art Deco building will be restored like a treasured relic on Antiques Roadshow. A project manager compares it to the Omni Netherland Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati.

It has WPA-era murals, mosaics from 70 years ago, 500-pound doors decorated in copper, silver and nickel, polished marble, intricate carvings and historic fixtures.

Lousy timing

It sounds like a beautiful treasure, worthy of historic restoration.

But the timing couldn't be worse. The appropriations for the project began in 1997 when the tax spigot was wide open and the revenue trough was overflowing.

But now the state is so desperate, Gov. Square Bob Sponge Tax wants to tax cable and satellite TV. That makes the court's palace look nearly as tacky as Saddam's Playboy mansions next door to starving Iraqis.

It's the same old story: The state burns money the way an aircraft carrier burns fuel. Then when the sailing gets tough, they can't slow it down.

"People do need to be sensitive,'' said Paul Goggin, executive director of the Ohio Building Authority. "But just like the statehouse, the people who own this building are the people of Ohio. Historic buildings need to be preserved.''

Good point. The building was neglected, and probably deserves a botox injection of tax dollars.

But how many Ohio taxpayers will ever see the inside of the Supreme Court (not counting lawyers who seem to make up two-thirds of Ohio's population)?

The Supreme Court is spending $1.3 million on furniture alone, including custom-made pieces built to match the historic 1930s theme.

Liberate Ohio

And there's the sheer size of the place. It sprawls over 416,000 square feet, state officials said, compared to 240,000 square feet for the Capitol.

The Supreme Court now occupies space in the Rhodes Tower, which was built in the 1970s. But over the years, the court has spread out like spilled syrup, filling more offices with sticky agencies and bureaucracies. They call it "consolidation,'' which means "more spending.''

The restoration of the state Capitol was a public service for thousands of taxpayers and schoolchildren who visit each year. The Capitol is the people's house.

But $85 million for the country club Supreme Court is hard to swallow while taxes are going up.

If we weren't busy watching an important, educational episode of Judge Wapner's Animal Court, taxpayers might get off the couch and protest the proposed new taxes on TV and cuts in education. We might throw a rope around a statue at the statehouse and drag some cast-iron heads through the street.

Starting at the Supreme Court.

E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.