DGS presents timeline and scope for Central State, public‑health lab, courts building and proposed state office at VDOT Annex

Banshee Tewalde, director of the Department of General Services, told the Senate Finance Appropriations Subcommittee on Capital Outlay and Transportation that work is under way on multiple large capital projects, including Central State Hospital, a new facility for the Department of Forensic Science and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), a proposed consolidated public‑health laboratory, and a study that recommends the VDOT Annex as the preferred site for a new state office building.

Tewalde said Central State Hospital is a 461,000‑square‑foot project authorized with 252 beds. She described progress on structural steel, precast walls and interior framing and said contractors expect structural steel and precast walls to be completed in June 2025, the building to be dried in by December 2025 and substantial completion in 2027. "Mechanical, electrical and fireproofing is ongoing," she said.

The DGS presentation said the Department of Forensic Science and OCME will be co‑located on a Hanover site. Tewalde said the programed facility will total roughly 281,000–295,000 square feet with about 350 parking spaces on 22 acres and that equipment startup began in late 2024 with substantial completion anticipated in December 2025; moving staff is expected early in 2026.

On the Governor's introduced budget and related study language, Tewalde…