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.
This historian dug up the hidden history of ‘amateur’ blackface in America
In her new book, Darkology, historian Rhae Lynn Barnes writes about how blackface and minstrel shows became one of the most popular forms of entertainment in 19th- and 20th-century America.
Attempted attack with explosives in New York City investigated as “ISIS-inspired terrorism”
New York City NYPD Commissioner: "Explosive devices that could have caused serious injury or death."
Trump is using immigration policy to suppress speech, lawsuit claims
A new lawsuit accuses the administration of violating the First Amendment by threatening the visas of researchers for work on disinformation and content moderation of social media.
Why young girls are disguised as boys in Afghanistan
The Taliban has released a video of an interrogation of a girl who passed as a boy. It's an age-old practice in this patriarchal society but now appears to be happening with some frequency.
Live Nation and Justice Department reach settlement in antitrust case
The trial, which began a week ago in a New York City courtroom, aimed to break up Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster.
Microshelters for Birmingham’s unhoused set to open soon
The pilot program called Home For All involves building 14 small pallet homes to house those who would otherwise be living on the streets.
