State House schematic expands: committee hears $24.85M estimate, questions on scope and site work

Building and General Services (BGS) staff and design consultants updated the Joint Legislative Management Committee on Oct. 9 about schematic designs for a State House renovation and addition that have grown in scope and cost as the design has evolved.

Joe Ajier, BGS director for design and construction, said the project began with pandemic-era planning and initial ARPA support. "$1.5 million was appropriated ARPA funds for this project," he told the committee, describing the federal rules that constrained eligible capital expenditures. The project was approved in concept in December 2023 with an early phase-1 estimate of about $11.6 million (site work excluded), Ajier said, but schematic-design refinements and the decision to add two committee rooms above a larger indoor entryway have increased the current schematic estimate to about $24.85 million, not including site and approach work.

Presenters said Phase 1 as currently drawn includes a roughly 10,345-square-foot, three-story addition with an accessible west entry, a multi-story atrium, new stair and elevator towers, two additional committee rooms and upgraded egress and screening points. BGS and the architect noted the need to maintain sensitivity to the historic State House and said the design will require federal and state historic-review permitting and additional local approvals.

Committee members pressed for more detail on costs that remain unestimated: site work, excavation, accessible parking, bus drop-off improvements and potential blasting of ledge. Ajier confirmed site work has not been priced and that those elements could materially increase the final cost. Members also discussed how the addition will interact with an in-progress HVAC program (air handlers 6–8) and whether some HVAC work should be reallocated between BGS capital funds and legislative carry-forward money; presenters described a proposed $250,000 transfer to the mezzanine committee-room work and said some air-handler work may be done sooner to avoid duplication.

Timeline expectations given by presenters: schematic-design completion about four months, design development about six months, construction-document production after that and a roughly 20-month construction window (work coordinated around legislative sessions). If everything proceeds smoothly, that schedule implies completion in just over three years.

Members asked the planning group (BGS, architect Freeman French Freeman, historic preservation, the state curator and legislative staff) to meet regularly and perform more detailed cost and site assessments. The committee did not approve expanded scope or additional funding Oct. 9 and will revisit the two committee-room question and schematic refinements at a future meeting.