‘One grand capitol’
One of the design schemes created by Arizona State University’s College of Design would renovate and expand the existing House and Senate buildings to the east and Wesley Bolin Plaza to the west, allowing the two to flow together. The horizontal yellow stripe at the bottom would be a new building that would connect the building expansions below-grade. The space for the legislative bodies would be about double what is currently in use.

The goal of a legislative subcommittee is for the state to celebrate its 100th anniversary in style, with new buildings for the House of Representatives and Senate. A subcommittee of the Legislative Governmental Mall Commission decided on March 2 that it wants the buildings to be designed and completed by Feb. 14, 2012.
The small group of committee members adopted the goal after seeing a presentation on three possible designs for new legislative buildings, including one proposal that would expand the existing House and Senate. The new legislative complex is estimated to cost about $500 million.
“We’re the largest capital city in America, and we need facilities to match that stature,” said Steve Gervais, a lobbyist for Pinnacle West who is overseeing the Capitol Mall design.
But the powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee says the state has more pressing needs than new legislative buildings.
“We suffer a lot from edifice envy,” Rep. Russell Pearce, R-18, said. “In tough financial times, which we have, I think it’s improper to have that conversation right now.”
Sen. Jake Flake, who chaired the subcommittee, said he wanted the project to be driven by a coalition of groups, not just the Legislature. He suggested the commission and legislative leaders solicit input from the city of Phoenix, Maricopa County and the Governor’s Office. As the largest capital city in the U.S. and the third-largest county in the country, he said the city and county have a right to be involved in the planning.
Flake, a District 5 Republican, also said he met with the governor last year about beginning the process of designing new buildings and said that, while she expressed an interest in the project, declined to come out in support of it at the time “because it was an election year, and that’s not the sort of thing you do in an election year.”
He was hopeful she would support it now, since she won’t be running for any office until 2010.
Doubling the space
The design proposals, created by the Arizona State University College of Design, would all approximately double the current space the buildings provide for lawmakers and staff.
One proposal would put the new buildings west of the Executive Tower and 18th Avenue, where state employees currently park and the Secretary of State’s customer service building is located.
One downside to this design is the western exposure of the new buildings, a problem that would be especially acute in the summer months.
Flake was also concerned that the new buildings would be adjacent to the executive tower along 18th Avenue and there would not be an opportunity to employ the architecture of the Capitol building.
“It would make it even more hodge-podge than it is, and that would be a disadvantage,” he said.
The second plan constructs the buildings directly west of the current buildings, destroying the House and Senate parking lots and flanking the original Capitol building. The lower level of the old Capitol building would be reactivated in this plan, with the Capitol museum being relegated to the upper levels of the original building.
While the east face of the new House and Senate could be built to complement the Capitol building, the state would have to find parking for legislators.
The final design scheme would retain the existing buildings, but expand them to the east toward Wesley Bolin Plaza, closing off 17th Avenue and creating a sloping feature that links the park with a lateral below-surface-grade building connecting both the House and Senate expansions. The existing buildings in this plan would be completely renovated inside and out.
Gervais said this plan would have the most dramatic visual impact as drivers approach the Capitol from the east on Washington Street.
“Your vision of it would be of one grand capitol,” he said.
Flake: Lawmakers missed opportunity to fund construction
The final plan would require the Legislature to find a new location to conduct its business while the buildings are being expanded and renovated.
Flake said price will be a determining factor in what is done, and that “we need to be realistic about the money.”
He said that, while he was speaker of the House in 2003 and 2004, he brought up the idea of the new buildings in the hopes that people would get behind the plan and set aside $100 million or so each year to fund the construction. The Legislature missed an opportunity to significantly fund the construction last year, he said, when it had more than $1 billion in surplus revenue.
“We had a couple good years and one great year, and we don’t have a penny towards it,” he said.
Pearce also said the state missed an opportunity last year, but not because of the surplus money. Instead, he said the Legislature could have moved the new Library and Archives building, currently under construction at 19th Avenue and Jackson Street, to a location nearer the House. Then, he said, the building could be connected to the House and used for legislative business.
Pearce also suggested adding a fourth floor to the House.
“I would do that before I would think about razing these buildings and building new ones,” he said.
Flake said if the Legislature sets aside $100 million a year, the buildings would be paid for by 2012, though he acknowledged it would be difficult to come up with the funding.
“Unless our economy just really booms back…it’s going to be hard to find $100 million a year from now to the centennial, so we’re talking about what’s a really bad word around here, and that’s bonding — lease-purchase,” he said. “If we don’t [have the money], we’re going to come up with some great plans and they’re going to get shot down because of finances.”
Marty Shultz, a lobbyist for Pinnacle West and chair of the Phoenix Community Alliance Capitol Mall Commission, said the idea of new legislative buildings has existed for several years. However, there seems to be more public support for the project now, he said.
“The feeling seems to be much more powerful than it ever has been,” he said.
The design proposals will be presented to legislative leaders in the coming weeks to gauge their interest and work out possible funding mechanisms before lawmakers craft a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.