Idaho Capitol plans to proceed over opposition

Tue., Dec. 5, 2006

Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer Associated Press

BOISE – Despite Gov.-elect C.L. “Butch” Otter’s opposition, plans to add two underground wings to the state Capitol are moving forward.

The Idaho Department of Administration has contracted with McAlvain Construction, of Boise, to build the shell of the wings, and is in the process of hiring a contractor to design the interior of the building. Construction is expected to begin early next year, the state Capitol Commission says.

“The Legislature has approved the construction, the bonds have been sold, the money’s out there,” said commission Chairman Jack Kane, of Garden Valley. “If the governor-elect has some different thoughts on it, that’s between him and the Legislature.”

The underground wings are part of a larger Capitol renovation that legislators have been pushing for eight years. The wings were proposed by Sen. Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston, last year as a means of adding meeting and office space.

But the plan was opposed this year by both of Idaho’s gubernatorial candidates, who argued the $45 million it would cost would be better spent renovating the nearby Ada County Courthouse and the Borah Post Office. The state issued $130 million in bonds to finance the Capitol renovations in September.

There will probably be debate over the wings during the legislative session, Stegner said, but it’s unlikely the plans will be changed.

“I don’t think the will of the majority of the Legislature has changed,” he said. “And even if it had changed, we have gone an awfully long way down the road to be reanalyzing what took us four years to decide.”

Otter still plans to change the project, though his campaign manager, Jon Hanian, did not specify how. During the campaign, Otter paid for TV ads against the wings.

“He thinks that money would be better spent elsewhere. That’s something he’s said during the campaign and he plans to stick by that after he becomes governor,” Hanian said Monday. “He doesn’t believe anything is set in stone.”

Project managers say they are moving ahead with the renovation job as scheduled.

“We’re not doing anything special, we’re not doing anything different,” said Jan Frew, project executive manager for the Department of Administration. “All we can do is move forward with the law that was passed by the Legislature.”

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