16 politico thursday, july 1, 2010 thursday, July 1, 2010 politico 17

Congress Statue of Freedom Refurbishment Dome Skirt Rehabilitation $3.99 million $19.9 million Water is leaking through pin holes in the “Statue of Free- The skirt area inside the dome needs repair. Balks at dom,” at the pinnacle of the Capitol dome. Fine iron filings Lead-based paint is flaking off the interior face caused by corrosion are staining the trusses of the dome. of the dome skirt, allowing moisture to penetrate Spider mites are crawling on the exterior surfaces. Interior the sandstone. Visitors who get Capitol dome finishes at the first visitor’s gallery and the inner dome are tours have a less pleasant experience. $200M degrading. The fix: Requirements for this project would in- The fix: Overhaul construction design documents from clude repairing and preserving the dome’s cast- 2001, which will detail a full rehabilitation of the Capitol iron structure within the skirt area, as well as Price Tag dome exterior and Rotunda interior that is up to code. Re- removing the lead-based paint, making a series place, repair and recast the broken or missing pieces on of roof repairs and repainting all surfaces of the skirt, grand stair and Rotunda walls. From disrepair on Page 1 the exterior shell of the dome. Perform an extensive lead- abatement project on the entire exterior of the dome. The risk: The dome will continue to degrade. The risk: Staining will worsen, iron plates will continue to Lead paint chips will continue to fall on the dome “I have no doubt that many of them corrode, and the total cost of rehabilitation will increase tour route, creating a health risk for maintenance are good and legitimate requests,” said because of rapidly deteriorating conditions. workers, members and staffers and the public. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who sits on the Photos by John Shinkle — POLiTICO House Appropriations subcommittee on the legislative branch. “However, in a time of severely constrained resources, tough decisions must be made.” Never mind that deferred maintenance means the costs to fix the problems will Transformer Replacements, Rayburn Building increase in the long run — and that some Russell Senate Office Building Restoration $4.34 million of the disrepair is a serious safety issue — Congress may be forced to let some $3.8 million The switchgear and transformers in Rayburn aren’t up to code and haven’t been re- key repairs slide another year. In November 2008, a chunk of marble roof molding at the top of the C Street placed since 1961, making part repairs nearly impossible. In some categories, the financial re- building failed. Balusters, balustrades, exterior pointing and caulking on the The fix:Replace the existing system with a state-of-the-art electrical-power system. quests this year far exceed last year’s building are in poor condition and continue to degrade. The risk: Potential power disruption for as long as four days in parts of the building. budget. The fix: A design plan and construction documentation need to be produced, The Architect of the Capitol has re- which would include masonry work, bird-proofing and exterior metal restoration. quested more than $52 million for fis- The risk: Someone could be killed. The potential for falling marble is creating a cal year 2011 to put toward multiyear situation that the AOC predicts could result in “life safety impacts to members, projects on the Capitol building — only staff and the public.” $6.4 million was enacted in the past fis- cal year. A further $40 million is being requested for multiyear Senate office building projects — $15 million was en- acted in the prior year. “One of the big problems is deferred maintenance, as evidenced in the Can- non Office Building last year when a portion of the ceiling collapsed and fell on a police officer,” said Jonathan Bee- ton, spokesman for Rep. Debbie Was- serman Schultz (D-Fla.), who chairs the House Appropriations legislative branch subcommittee looking at the budget re- quest. “Even the most recognizable sym- bol of the Capitol, the dome, has rust and water damage because of deferred main- tenance.” Try explaining that to the taxpayers, who have turned against deficit spend- ing and may see sprucing up the Capitol Garage Overhaul in Rayburn House Office Building campus as another congressional grab $1.05 million for their wallets. Members of the pub- lic who do enter the Capitol largely see The three-level parking garage was built in 1965, and much of the only its best face: the new $621 million original reinforced steel and concrete is corroding. Despite periodic Capitol Visitor Center and a carefully de- repairs, a large portion of the decks are at an impending failure signed tour route. point and require full concrete replacement. The CVC’s beleaguered, cost-explod- The fix: Get an updated assessment of the deterioration, design a ing construction process left a bad taste plan for the work within the next five years. in the mouths of taxpayer groups about The risk: If repairs aren’t made, slab failures could potentially re- the reliability of spending on congressio- Roof and Skylight Replacement in sult in fewer parking spaces, damaged cars and injuries to drivers. nal home improvement. “Taxpayers should not be on the hook Hart Senate Office Building for the aesthetic whims of the Architect $15.7 million of the Capitol,” said Mattie Corrao, gov- After years of ultraviolet light exposure, the ernment affairs manager of Americans original skylight from the late 1970s is at the for Tax Reform. “If they feel that fund- end of its useful life. On the roof, damage to ing for the AOC is pertinent, they should the concrete deck is causing water leaks, Federal Office Building 8 Refurbishment consider using the funds that pad their resulting in slipping hazards and damage to $14.1 million own pockets instead of placing an addi- interior spaces. The roof fall protection sys- tional burden on American taxpayers.” tem is out of code. The House of Representatives will eventually need 200,000 addi- tional square feet of office space. The House will occupy four floors, The Architect of the Capitol realizes The fix: Replace the skylight, repair the wa- he’s got a political problem in addition to Exterior Stone and Metal Preservation on the Capitol space that will be leased from the General Services Administration. ter leakage, install a new roof fall protection $11.2 million This building — in a distant corner of the Capitol complex near a high- the Capitol’s structural issues. system. “We are very aware of the need to pre- Water and weather are degrading the exterior stone on the Capitol build- way — will also serve as swing space while other House office space serve the historic infrastructure of the The risk: Water will continue to leak into ing, most severely on the Senate side, where the stone has not been fully is renovated. Capitol, while, at the same time, recog- the building, resulting in damage and mold. restored since the building was completed in the 1860s. Cracks are causing The fix:Begin the process of renovating floors 3, 4, 5 and 6, to make nizing the need for fiscal responsibility,” Maintenance work will be hard to perform. freeze and thaw cycles to flake off small chunks of stone. office space, high-tech committee rooms and conference rooms. Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers The fix: Begin the first phase of repairing cracked stones, reset displaced The risk: A massive holdup. Interior design, IT, security fixes and fur- told the Senate Appropriations subcom- stones and clean the masonry. nishing will not happen on schedule. mittee earlier this spring. Following are the most pressing Capi- The risk: The stone will continue to deteriorate, more stone will fall off the tol repair projects, what they cost and building and the cost of the project will continue to climb. why they’re necessary.