House approves Statehouse renovation
BOISE – Idaho would start restoring its 100-year-old Statehouse next year under a resolution approved by the state House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The measure authorizes the state to begin planning for a project that would start after next year’s legislative session and end by 2010.
There’s no question the Capitol needs work. Its old pink elevator has been out of commission for several days; the other is so slow that many elect to use the stairs instead, arriving out of breath at the hearing rooms on the fourth floor. Those rooms get so crowded that lobbyists, reporters and onlookers cram the doorways, craning to see and hear the speakers.
Nobody on the House floor Tuesday said the Statehouse is adequate now; the debate focused on what kind of work would be appropriate. The resolution approved earlier by the House State Affairs Committee calls for Idaho to spend about $115 million fixing up the Statehouse and building two, two-story, 50,000-square-foot underground wings on its east and west sides. The wings would reach about 35 feet into the ground and would have skylights to allow some natural light to penetrate.
The two-story wings are too much, said Lenore Barrett, R-Challis, who noted the building is only used heavily during the three-month legislative session. While the secretary of state, the attorney general, and other entities do have year-round offices in the Capitol, “if you ever come here in the summer, it’s spooky,” said Barrett.
Barrett said her constituents would rather endure the discomfort of crowded hearing rooms than pay for two new two-story wings.
“I don’t think at this point in time that we need to be spending money on two levels,” Barrett said. “You know darned good and well it’s going to be expensive. At least keep it at one (level).”
But others said the two-story wings would come in handy as Idaho grows, and rejected suggestions to use nearby empty buildings, such as the vacant Ada County Courthouse, because lawmakers would have to spend too much time walking to them.
“Within a four-block area of the Capitol we’re leasing 59,802 square feet for agencies,” said Rep. Max Black, R-Boise. “In Ada County, we’re leasing 937,000 square feet. I think that tells you what the need is.”
Lawmakers voted 40-28 to pass the resolution, though many people stood up to speak against it.
“This second story in the ground is the absolute most-expensive-per-square-foot building that will ever be in the state of Idaho,” said Rep. Joseph Cannon, R-Blackfoot.
One supporter was House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, who served last summer on a leadership committee that studied the matter.
“Basically I stand here before you as one that wants a resolution to this topic, because it’s been here long enough,” said Newcomb, R-Burley.
The measure now moves to the Senate.