The renovated and restored Old Supreme Courtroom in the Statehouse may need 50,000 more work to improve the acoustics so that people can hear what legislators are saying during meetings.

Topeka ? Aside from the House and Senate chambers, the old Supreme Court Room is the largest and most ornate meeting room in the Capitol.

Newly renovated, the room produces a sense of awe with its gleaming chandeliers, huge windows and lofty ceiling.

But there’s a problem with this beauty: When committees meet there, it’s difficult to hear what people are saying.

House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, called the acoustics in the room “inadequate.”

On Tuesday, legislative leaders were told a plan is in the works to spend $250,000 to improve sound in the room.

Donald Heiman, chief information technology officer for the legislative branch, briefed the Legislative Coordinating Council.

He said Treanor Architects have a proposal to treat the plaster on the walls in the room and implement other improvements to make it easier to hear.

The room on the third floor of the Capitol is used by the House Appropriations Committee and other committees.

Heiman said the cost of the improvements will come out of the Capitol Restoration project, which is currently tabbed at approximately $300 million.

Heiman said the state also intends to spend about $37,500 to equip the old Supreme Court room and two other committee rooms on the fifth floor with cameras that will allow meetings in those rooms to be streamed live on the Internet.

He said he hopes to have all the improvements in place for the 2011 legislative session, which starts in January.