JUNEAU — Long-planned construction work on the Alaska Capitol will likely force lawmakers out of the building if they need more than two extra weeks to get their job done — and it could cause big headaches even sooner and, eventually, serious penalties.
Workers will begin four-hour drilling sessions at the Capitol within days of the scheduled end of the 90-day legislative session April 17, with a cost of delay that could hit $33,000 a day once the Legislature's contractors are set up, according to a memorandum sent to lawmakers last week.
Legislative leaders said there was no avoiding the quick transition to keep the renovation and retrofitting project on track to finish before winter and the resumption of the Legislature in January. But they also acknowledge that the disruption will likely force a move to Anchorage if the session is extended for more than a few days, as is looking increasingly likely.
"If it appeared like another day or two will finalize things, I think we could probably make this work," Senate President Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, said in an interview. "We would probably tolerate it rather than try to move everything."
But, he said, the Anchorage legislative offices are "probably the second-best alternative to the Capitol." And lawmakers have paid for them through June, Meyer added, despite a court ruling declaring the lease for the Anchorage building illegal.
He said that lawmakers would likely put off their decision about where to hold a special session, if one is needed, until April 17.
The major Capitol construction project is in its fourth season. It includes a switch in the nearly 90-year-old building's heating system and replacement of crumbling bricks and sandstone blocks. The columns on the portico have already been seismically stabilized.
One of this year's pieces is the drilling so contractors can install a series of 8-inch-thick pilings that will anchor the Capitol to bedrock.
That work is set to begin April 18, and entails the closure of Fourth Street in front of the Capitol and the demolition of a handicap-access ramp at the main entrance. The drilling likely won't begin the same day, but should start soon after, said Jeff Goodell, the Capitol's building manager.
The entire Capitol will have to be emptied by May 2 — the same day the contractor is expected to have a crane at the building's parking garage, according to a memorandum sent last week by Pam Varni, the director of the Legislature's nonpartisan support agency.
If the legislative session does run late, the initial drilling work could be scheduled outside lawmakers' normal working hours, said Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak and chair of the Legislative Council, the joint House-Senate committee that is overseeing the construction.
"But still, it's going to be disruptive," he said. And loud. Stevens added: "We don't want to delay, because it's enormously expensive."
The Senate has already passed a resolution sponsored by Sen. Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak, that urges Gov. Bill Walker to call a special session — if one is necessary — somewhere outside Juneau.
Juneau's delegation, meanwhile, wants lawmakers to stay in town.
Rep. Sam Kito, D-Juneau, said the community is working to make alternative space available — though a similar offer last year failed to keep the Legislature from decamping to Anchorage.
"It's going to be a challenge," Kito said. "But just as we said last year, the community of Juneau is ready to step up."