Alaska News

Alaska's Capitol set to receive facelift

Alaska's state Capitol building in Juneau will undergo a restoration over the next four summers at a cost of more than $1 million after the state Legislative Council approved the work this past week.

The Juneau-based architectural firm Jensen Yorba Lott has been contracted to provide design work to retrofit and restore the aging building after Sen. Dennis Egan (D-Juneau) successfully lobbied to add the project to the Legislative Council's agenda, according to the Juneau Empire.

Wayne Jensen, president of Jensen Yorba Lott, told the Empire the entire cost of the Capitol's restoration has not yet been estimated, but the full amount will be presented to lawmakers in early 2013. "It'll be a lot of money, because it's a significant amount of work," said Jensen, adding that the cost will most likely be in the millions because the design contract alone, for the three phases of construction, is worth slightly more than $1 million.

Restoration of the landmark building is needed to help preserve historical value as well as maintain the integrity and safety of the structure.

"It's the Capitol," Egan said. "It's a life safety issue. We have the governor's office there. We have the entire Legislature there. And it's an 80-year-old structure. It behooves us, whether the Legislature's there or not, to preserve it." Read more.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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