Will Capitol site add a $70M building?

As officials prepare to reoccupy the beautifully restored state Capitol later this year, some people on Capitol Hill want the adjacent 45-year-old State Office Building torn down and replaced at an additional cost of around $70 million.

The $250 million spent on the Capitol and its grounds will be within budget, but remodeling the 3-year-old West and East office buildings — constructed to temporarily house executive and legislative top officials while the Capitol was reworked — will cost about $3.5 million more than originally budgeted.

That remodeling of the two buildings (newly renamed the House and Senate office buildings) will go forward, despite the extra cost, and will take around a year to complete, said Capitol Hill Preservation Board executive director David Hart. The additional funds will likely be taken from the Capitol's contingency account, he said.

Inside and outside of the 90-year-old Capitol the detail to historic accuracy and the earthquake-proofing have received praise.

Those who have toured the Capitol under construction say the Capitol Preservation Board, Hart and the thousands of construction workers have achieved a wonder. The Capitol is now scheduled to open to the public Dec. 19.

But there is still a lot of money yet to be spent. As Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and the 104 legislators prepare to move back into the Capitol,

about $4 million is needed to buy new or refurbished furniture and equipment. The main idea, said Hart, is an attempt to have furniture, carpets and other furnishing that will reflect styles and colors seen when the Capitol first opened in 1915.

Long-term goal

Meanwhile, the old State Office Building, even though extensively remodeled just a few years ago with expensive removal of asbestos, should be torn down, some state officials said.

A new, north office building would then be built in the style of the House and Senate office structures. Senate President John Valentine said that is a "long-term" goal for the Capitol Hill complex.

The original vision of the Capitol's architect was for the main Capitol backed by several multistory office buildings to be faced with local granite, Hart added.

Hart said it would cost taxpayers roughly $70 million to tear down the State Office Building, which was constructed in the early 1960s, and replace it with another three-story building matching the House and Senate office structures.