Alaska lawmakers are moving forward with obtaining cost estimates for a new legislative office building in Anchorage, although a representative with say over state spending is fighting the idea and argues it would be a "monument to legislative vanity."
The Legislative Council, a 14-member panel of representatives and senators who handle business when the Legislature isn't in session, has asked staffers to collect cost figures for two downtown sites under consideration for a new building.
"It seemed to me like the majority of members, by far, didn't want to stay in the building we're in. That could change due to cost and due to the public's involvement," Legislative Council Chairman John Harris said Tuesday. "It will be an election year next year and maybe a number of them don't want to be seen as being big spenders and wanting to go out and put a lot of money into a new building."
Legislators have talked for years about moving out of the current office space they lease in Anchorage on West Fourth Avenue. Senate President Gary Stevens said last month, "I think we need to have a larger building with more offices and adequate parking." Harris said he's heard concerns about maintenance issues in the current building and that the offices are too small and few in number.
But not everyone wants to move. Anchorage Republican Rep. Mike Hawker is arguing that legislators should stay in the building and make "appropriate tenant improvements."
"It would be totally unnecessary and irresponsible to build any monument to legislative vanity ... The public does not want legislators living in luxury at state expense and we certainly have not earned the right to claim that privilege," Hawker wrote in an e-mail to other legislators.
Any Legislative Council decision to pursue a new building would still eventually need a vote of the full Legislature to appropriate money for the construction. Hawker, as co-chair of the House Finance Committee, would have influence over that.
But supporters of considering a new building say there is a growing demand for office space in Anchorage from legislators around the state. The Anchorage legislative office building is a hub of activity when lawmakers aren't in Juneau during the 90 days of the annual regular session. Several legislators from outside the area have offices there, as do the lawmakers who represent Anchorage and the Mat-Su area, and hearings are common in the building.
"I think the current building we're in has outgrown its usefulness," said Anchorage Republican Rep. Bob Lynn.
Lynn said pressure for space will only grow as legislative districts are redrawn after the 2010 census, and again in the census 10 years after that. He said that will likely increase the number of legislators from the Anchorage area and they will need the office space.
Legislative Council Chair Harris, a Valdez Republican who won't be running for re-election to the Legislature next year, said he's neutral on the issue and is especially interested in the input of Anchorage legislators. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Mike Doogan said after the most recent council meeting that he needs more information on the alternatives before he weighs in on the issue.
One possibility is for the Legislature to expand to the ground floor of the building it currently occupies. The landlord has made an offer that's being considered.
The Legislative Council sought proposals from landowners around Anchorage interested in providing office space and received about a dozen, including from the Daily News. The goal was to secure about 40,000 square feet for offices and conference rooms, and legislators are now focusing their attention on two potential sites.
The most seriously discussed is a piece of state-owned property at what is now a parking lot near Ninth Avenue and E Street. Rough estimates suggested the project's cost could be somewhere in the neighborhood of $28 million, but council members want a professional appraisal.
Harris said it could be four stories with underground parking, although the Parnell administration expressed interest in also having space should it be built.
The other site legislators want better cost numbers on is across Fourth Avenue from the state courthouse, on the old Anchorage Times property. The Legislature last year talked about razing the block and constructing a complex that would also include court system offices. An $86 million estimate helped kill that idea, but the project could be scaled back without the court offices.
Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.
By SEAN COCKERHAM
scockerham@adn.com