A new Statehouse and related projects will cost about $400 million
Alabama lawmakers are shown architectural drawings of what a new Alabama Statehouse will look like when it is complete in 2027 during a meeting of the Alabama Legislative Council in Montgomery, Ala. on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. The project also includes a new parking deck and a green space where the current building is located.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The construction of a new Alabama Statehouse, now underway in Montgomery, and related projects such as a parking deck and new green space will cost about $400 million, a price tag that matches initial projections, lawmakers were told Wednesday.
The Alabama Legislative Council, a 20-member panel comprised of legislative leaders and their appointees, approved the construction of the new Statehouse last year. The panel was given an update on the project on Wednesday.
Othni J. Lathram, director of the Legislative Services Agency, told lawmakers that construction of the new Statehouse building will cost about $300 million to $325 million. The related projects, which include a parking deck, a green space, a new voting system, the demolition of the old building and drainage improvements, will add another $75 million to $100 million to the project’s cost.
Lathram said the cost estimates are “on track” with initial projections.
“I think our goal was to have a $400 million total budget on the entire project and we’re still trending very much in that direction,” Lathram said.
Lathram said the goal is to have lawmakers in the new building for the 2027 organizational session.
The Retirement Systems of Alabama, which has built several office buildings in downtown Montgomery that other public entities use, oversees the design and construction. The new Statehouse will be sold or leased to the Alabama Legislature.
The new Statehouse is currently under construction behind the current building. The old building will be demolished and replaced with a park-like area. A parking deck will be built in a parking lot beside the current Statehouse.
Lawmakers once met at the Alabama State Capitol, which also houses the governor’s office. But they moved into the current building in 1985 when the Capitol underwent renovations. Legislators opted not to return to the Capitol when the renovations were complete.
DOJ says no evidence Jeffrey Epstein had a ‘client list’ or blackmailed associates
The two-page memo outlines the "exhaustive review" the department conducted of the Epstein files in its possession, and also reiterates that Epstein died by suicide, contrary to some conspiracy theories.
Floods are getting more dangerous around the country, not just in Texas
The deadly floods in Central Texas were caused by extremely heavy rain. Climate change is causing even more rain to fall during the heaviest storms.
Near old Montana mine, special clinic for asbestos-related illness fights to survive
The Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, Montana, closed in May after a court judgment. The clinic's federal funding is also threatened. Patients with scarred lungs worry about what's next.
4 things to know about the deadly Texas floods and ongoing search efforts
Search efforts continue for the dozens of people still missing after Friday's floods, as questions swirl over what went wrong. Here's what we know so far.
In Peru, criminal gangs are targeting schools in poor neighborhoods for extortion
The president of one of Lima's largest parent-teacher associations says at least 1,000 schools in the Peruvian capital are being extorted and that most are caving into the demands of the gangs.
The hidden cost of oil: Families fractured by a pipeline project
As the 900-mile East African Crude Oil Pipeline project takes shape in Uganda, there is the promise of economic benefit. But it's shaking up the lives of some 100,000 people.