Senate approves $400 million in building repairs

Capitol overhaul, LU and Linn State top area projects

In order to stop water from leaking into the Capitol basement, the south steps will have to be removed. In addition, the statue of Thomas Jefferson will have to be temporarily removed from its prominent perch.
In order to stop water from leaking into the Capitol basement, the south steps will have to be removed. In addition, the statue of Thomas Jefferson will have to be temporarily removed from its prominent perch.

Sometime in the next couple of years, the Thomas Jefferson statue, the Missouri Capitol's south steps and the protective roof all will disappear so work crews can repair major problems with the Capitol's foundation.

The $40 million project is just one of more than 200 approved Thursday by state senators to be paid for with the sale of bonds approved last year.

The Senate passed two bills detailing where $400 million of that money will be spent, by identical 31-3 votes.

Including the Capitol work, Mid-Missouri will get more than $119 million in projects.

Lincoln University and the State Technical College of Missouri will benefit from the higher education projects list.

"In the bonding bills previously, we just let everybody put projects in there that wanted (them) - and the first thing you knew, we were talking over billions and billions of dollars," Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar, reminded colleagues. "Last year, for the first time in over a decade, we actually raised our caps on our bonding authority for this purpose. But we didn't finalize the project list."

Parson said the list was put together using four criteria - needs, safety, cost and economic impact on the state.

Missouri's almost century-old Capitol will get $40 million for major repairs of problems Missourians generally don't see.

"The whole front of the building has to be removed," Jefferson City Republican Sen. Mike Kehoe explained, "so the lead (waterproofing) membrane can be replaced with a synthetic, rubber membrane."

If that isn't done, he said, deterioration in the foundation will continue as will mold growing in the basement.

Both Parson and Kehoe told colleagues the state Transportation department has agreed to move people from its headquarters building just east of the Capitol, and relocate them to nearby locations, including the district headquarters, 1511 Missouri Blvd.

The bonding bill sets $35 million aside to renovate the current MoDOT building for use by legislative staff or for additional hearing rooms, for visitors to meet and be screened for security reasons before entering the Capitol and to allow the House to eliminate the two dozen "mezzanine" offices on the first floor inaccessible for people with disabilities.

With more Transportation downsizing, Kehoe explained, "They continue to look at ways to make their department more efficient, to put more money on the roads." The department can "re-purpose" several buildings it already has, including warehouses and district headquarters, he said.

But MoDOT spokeswoman Sally Oxenhandler told the News Tribune, "Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission members have had no formal discussions with legislators regarding the potential use of MoDOT's Central Office building on Capitol Avenue by the Missouri Legislature.

"In its current configuration, MoDOT's Central District building ... would be unable to house all of the employees located in the Central Office building."

The bonding bills include $2,035,395 for fire alarm and fire-fighting system repairs to the Supreme Court, Professional Registration, Howerton and George Washington Carver (Agriculture) State Office buildings.

Regional projects in the bonding plan include almost $58,000 to replace the fire alarm at the Kenneth Kirchner State School near Ellis Porter/Riverside Park; $3,182,724 for roof replacements and perimeter detection system repairs at the Algoa Correctional Center; $1,612,862 for HVAC, perimeter detection system and chiller repairs at the Tipton Correctional Center; and $3,456,663 for various projects in Fulton, including the State Hospital, Missouri School for the Deaf, Treatment Center and the prison system's Reception and Diagnostic Center.

About $50 million of the bond money would be used for state parks, including $6,515,000 for infrastructure upgrades and renovation of the Civilian Conservation Corps structures and related site structures at Lake of the Ozarks State Park, Osage Beach.

In the separate higher education bonding bill, Lincoln University would get $4,038,140 for two projects - replacing or repairing the mechanical, plumbing, HVAC and electrical systems in several buildings, and repairing or renovating the interior finishes in both the Young Hall administration building and the President's House, 601 Jackson St.; and for replacing roofing systems and repairing exterior masonry veneers, foundation and spalling brick on several buildings.

The State Technical College, Linn, would be given $1,071,984 for a half-dozen projects, including foundation repairs at two buildings, heating-and-cooling system repairs or replacements at three buildings, replacing floor coverings in two buildings, parking lot repairs, and bathroom renovations and other interior work in the Nilges Technology Center.

At other buildings around the state, Parson said, the repairs include roof and boiler replacements, sprinkler systems, lighting, additional alarm systems and backup electrical generator systems.