Construction on new Alabama State House underway

MONTGOMERY, Ala. ( WIAT ) — A $350 million project to build a new State House is underway in Montgomery.

Pat Harris, secretary of the Alabama Senate, said construction of the multi-million dollar building should be complete by the end of next year. After several fires and flooding over the years, Harris said the wait is over.

He says a new state house is needed because it will increase transparency between lawmakers and the public.

“Because of building constraints, you’re limited from visiting one of them, I think it has a lasting effect,” said Harris. “But we want everybody to be able to see and participate in their government.”

Fourth graders across the state tour Montgomery every year. Harris says poor elevators make these visits difficult to the state house. “They have to walk up the steps. So, you’re talking seven floors up the steps,” he said. “Now, I know for a fourth grader that’s not that bad, but the teachers and the parents and everybody else- because we don’t have room- the elevators don’t work correctly. And you can’t cram all those kids on those elevators.”

Neah Scott, Legislative Council for the Retirement Systems of Alabama, said they allocated $350 million for the the building. She explained that they are well under budget so far.

“You know, we’ve built office buildings, and hotels and the golf courses, but we’ve never built a building like this. So, it’s been a learning experience for all of us as well,” said Scott.

Scott said there haven’t been any delays in construction. By the end of September, she said eighty to eighty-five percent of the project will be bid out to contractors.

“The construction manager has been able to, where there’s been a delay, make up the time somewhere else. That’s one of the reasons we have two cranes out there. So, we can keep the project moving pretty fast,” said Scott.

By the time the equipment is installed, the new state house is expected to be ready for use by the 2027 legislative session.

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