Daniels to move into official residence after renovations

INDIANAPOLIS -- Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday that he and his wife Cheri would move into the official governor's residence once major renovations on the home are completed next year.\nDaniels held his weekly media availability in the three-story house, which is mostly gutted as workers continue a major overhaul that includes new plumbing, wiring, heating and cooling systems and other renovations.\nThe governor indicated soon after taking office this year that he might not move into the house about five miles north of the Statehouse because of a state report saying it needed major repairs. Daniels, who now lives in an $810,000 home near Geist Reservoir, had bought land for a new home in an upscale, gated community in the northern Indianapolis suburb of Carmel.\nBut Daniels said later he had no certain plans for that new home, and in February he announced several private contractors had agreed to donate their services to repair the official residence. Others have pledged more than $340,000 in donations to help the effort.\nDaniels said Friday he would continue to maintain another home and would eventually build another house, but he and his wife planned to move into the residence once renovation and decoration work is finished. A leading contractor for the project said work inside the home should be completed in February, with exterior work finished by the spring.\nThe governor said terrific progress was being made. He delivered the update inside the bottom-floor living room, which had unfinished floors, and walls and ceilings strewn with slits where new wiring was being placed.\nThe home -- and its 16 surrounding acres -- was bought by the state in 1972 to become the official governor's residence. The residence is located amid large, stately houses on North Meridian Street.\n"You can't tell it right at this moment, but it will be restored both in terms of historical accuracy and in terms of quality it once knew," Daniels said.\nThe bottom floor includes office areas for the first lady, space for security personnel, a kitchen and a large room where formal events can be held. Major work on that room has not been done, and it has still been used for events in recent months.\nThe second floor is the living quarters, and besides a bedroom, it will include a galley kitchen solely for use by the governor's family. A third floor includes a bedroom and attic.\nDaniels could not give a final tab on how much the renovations would cost in free work and private donations, but said it would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Cheri Daniels said the house would be decorated in a traditional fashion.\nThe governor, his wife and at least two of their daughters plan to be at the residence on Halloween to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. They will be dressed as characters from the Wizard of Oz, with Daniels being the cowardly lion and his wife playing Dorothy.\n"She could have at least been the wicked witch," Daniels joked.