Alabama considers a new State House
Monday, June 02, 2008
By Bob Gambacurta
As with any economic development project, industry recruiters for the city of Montgomery, Montgomery County and the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce must overcome some serious obstacles before they'll be able to land one of the top prizes on their economic development wish list. Unlike other projects, however, the recruiters do not need to travel overseas to meet with the decision makers. The decision makers are right here in Montgomery, at least for part of the year.
The industry target is the Alabama Legislature. The project is a new State House. The prize is getting the Legislature to agree to build a new legislative facility at One Court Square at the opposite end of Dexter Avenue from the State Capitol.
As usual, elected officials like Mayor Bobby Bright and County Commission Chairman Todd Strange are optimistic they can sell their plan to legislative leaders. As usual, the Chamber of Commerce is playing its cards close to the vest and declining to elaborate on the details of the joint city, county and chamber plan.
Several hurdles must be cleared before any decision is made on where to locate a new State House. That the current facility has serious problems is a given. Questions surround efforts to mitigate those problems. Should the Legislature build a new facility, or renovate the current facility? Are any capital improvements warranted under the current economic conditions? In view of the divisive partisanship in the Legislature in recent years, can any decision be made that will satisfy a membership noted for its strong-willed leaders and powerful egos?
Bright and Strange recently sent a letter to the six-member Legislative Building Authority. The letter, which has not been made public, says local officials stand ready to make a more comprehensive proposal when legislative leaders are ready to listen. More importantly the letter assures the committee that local governments will do whatever is necessary to make certain that locating the facility downtown will cost the state no more than locating it in the Capitol complex.
"We will deliver the site to them. We will acquire, prepare and deliver the land to them," Bright says. He estimates the cost of land acquisition and preparation at between $8 million and $10 million. Some legislative leaders believe land costs will be closer to $25 million.
"We will make sure the costs are the same either way. We can't ask them to spend more taxpayer dollars just to put it downtown," Strange says. "We are ready to make our proposal, to address our thoughts of why down there and why now. Once they buy into our concept, we will create an innovative partnership between the city, county, the chamber and the Legislature,"
The site local officials are prepared to deliver includes the old Pizitz building at 1 Court Square and the rest of the block, including the parking deck, King's Castle, Cool Beans, the Olive Room and Nobles.
With the Capitol at one end of Dexter Avenue and the State House at the other, Bright envisions a "government mall" similar to the nation's Capitol complex in Washington, where the National Mall stretches between the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. Bright says the project would be the final jewel in making downtown renovation an overwhelming success.
Bright foresees the empty storefronts along Dexter Avenue filling up with lobbying groups and trade associations. His plan places the new legislative facility within walking distance of the Convention Center, Riverwalk Stadium, downtown restaurants and hotels including the new Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center.
"It would rejuvenate our Capitol City," Bright says. "But it's a slow process. Our biggest obstacle is the current economy. With the current budget problems, it's difficult to get the Legislature to focus on a new State House. When they do it, let's get it down here. We want to show them what we can do. We don't want to be left out in the cold."
Strange asks "if we're going to build a new State House, why hide it behind the Capitol?"
Long-time Clerk of the House of Representatives, Greg Pappas has advocated building a new State House for a number of years. He is all too familiar with the problems the current building poses for lawmakers and staff.
"The roof leaks. We have a horrible mold problem. And, we're seriously overcrowded. The limited space is the most annoying thing. When we're in session the halls are so crowded you can't move. We have more than 650 registered lobbyists. We used to issue seven press credentials to cover the Legislature. Today it's 400-450 press.
"Committee rooms only hold 45 people and the Fire Marshall has cracked down on overcrowding. On Wednesdays we have to post guards at the committee rooms. This past session a member of the Rules Committee couldn't get into one meeting. The guards wouldn't let him in because the room was full.
"There's no room for the public and some days we have groups of 500 to 1,000 people show up. It's an old building, built as an office building not a legislative building. Heating and cooling costs twice what a new building would cost," Pappas says.
It would be cost prohibitive to renovate the existing building according to Pappas. He says remodeling the Department of Public Safety building is costing $300 per square foot, well more than what building a new building would cost.
Pappas is less concerned with where the new facility is built, than he is with building a new facility and "doing it right, like the Capitol renovation was done." An all inclusive building, designed as a legislative facility not an office building, with a parking deck could cost as much as $300 million according to Pappas, but "first we must decide the site."
State Rep. Richard Laird, D-Roanoke, is chairman of the Legislative Building Authority. He is no fan of locating a new legislative facility downtown, several blocks away from the Capitol.
"The best plan is to build a legislative annex, attached to the Capitol. It's ridiculous to locate it downtown. Even if there's no difference in cost and all things are equal, it's still ridiculous," Laird says. He wants to block off Union Street and build into the parking lot on the east side of the Capitol
"I recommended to the authority in February a 5-story building with a one-story wing across Union and connected to the Capitol. It would cost $138 million to build, compared to $166 million to renovate the existing building," Laird says. He plans on holding a major press briefing on the feasibility of a new facility "in the next couple of weeks, depending on the special session."
The Legislative Building Authority recently commissioned an architect's study, which placed the cost of a 220,000 square foot legislative facility and parking deck at $170 million. The study also said design flaws in the old Highway Department Building, built in 1963 and renovated into the State House in 1982, make renovation cost prohibitive.
The head of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, David Bronner has built his share of buildings in the last number of years. He says renovating an old building has inherent problems such as heating and cooling, asbestos removal and things like elevator shafts too small to accommodate modern day elevators.
"You can't make it work. Renovating the current State House is big a waste of money, as big of a waste today as it was when they renovated it to begin with. I was opposed to it then, too," Bronner says.
Bronner favors building a new building attached to the Capitol. "That was my recommendation twenty years ago. That hasn't changed."
City, county and chamber officials believe that given the chance, they can overcome objections similar to those expressed by Laird. But first, the Legislature must decide to build a new facility. In the present legislative atmosphere that may take a while.
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