The Atrium is host to many special events each year and... a home for Pete the Pigeon.
The Statehouse Atrium connects the Statehouse to the Senate Building. Until 1994 when it was constructed, the space between the two buildings was
A view of the atrium space before renovation
open air and said to be overrun with pigeons.

The new interior space not only added valuable square footage for special events but provided those with business between the two buildings welcome cover from the elements.

 
Pete Fact : Abraham Lincoln visited the Statehouse on three occasions. In 1859, little known outside of his home state, he spoke to a small crowd on the subject of slavery and the preservation of the union. In 1861, on his way to Washington, DC to be sworn in as president, he stopped in Ohio and spoke to a joint session of the Ohio Legislature. It was while at the Statehouse that he received a telegram that his election to the nation's highest office was official. His third visit was more somber. Lincoln, the first president to be assassinated, lay in state in the Statehouse Rotunda as his casket was being transported back to Illinois for burial.
 
In 1859, Abraham Lincoln spoke to a small group of Ohioans from the east terrace of the Statehouse, which is now enclosed as part of the atrium space. A plaque commemorates his first of three visits to the Ohio Statehouse.
 
Two catwalks connect the Senate Building to the Statehouse
The east Statehouse facade is no longer subject to the elements
Floor lighting anchors the four corners of the Atrium