LANSING – The funding is not yet in place to perform the work, but the state Capitol will need $62.29 million in repairs, mostly to its mechanical systems, to remain functioning, contractors told the Capitol Commission at its meeting Monday.

The commission agreed to move ahead with designing the 45 separate projects that would make up the work contract but noted it has only half of the funds needed for that step. Tim Bowlin, the new project manager for the commission, said it would cost $1 million to complete the schematic designs and said he was already working with those involved in appropriations to generate the other $500,000.

“We knew there were problems, but little did we know they run as deep as they did,” Gary Randall, chair of the commission and clerk of the House, said.

Officials had not previously put a precise estimate on the cost of the project.

The commission has proposed a bonding scheme through the Michigan Strategic Fund to pay for the actual repairs, but that will also need legislative approval to move forward. The House passed legislation authorizing the commission to sell bonds late last year, but the Senate declined to act on it, with Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof (R-West Olive) saying the Senate had additional questions and not enough time remaining in the term to work through them.

Chad Clark, senior project manager at Christman, the construction firm overseeing the project, said the schematics could be completed by April with initial work beginning as early as late summer.

Among of the key parts of the project are repairing or replacing plumbing and electrical systems that are at, or near, failure in the 146-year-old structure. The building saw substantial renovations completed in 1992, but Clark said some of the systems reviewed for the current project were not addressed during that work.

“Twenty-five years is actually the expected lifespan of many building systems and equipment,” Matthew Chalifoux, an architect with EYP, the architecture and engineering firm on the project, said.

Contractors showed a number of pictures of systems they had reviewed during their assessment, including several of drain pipes nearly clogged with corrosion.

Clark said the group had already begun some repairs. He noted that sprinkler lines above some of the key electrical systems had begun to fail. A leak could have taken out the building’s power, he said.

In addition to key repairs, the project is also looking at some safety improvements, particularly to the fire detection and sprinkler systems. The project to date has included reviews of how smoke would flow through the building from a number of fire locations that will drive how the new system is designed.

The building would also be converted to geothermal heating. Anthony Bochicchio, another architect with EYP, said the test wells drilled this past summer “suggest a high level of performance” for such a system, but he said two more wells are planned to double-check those findings.

Michael Galway, principle with Loring Consulting, an engineering firm on the project, said the heat and lighting changes planned could save the state $250,000 a year from the more than $800,000 in annual utilities for the building.

The project would also include a backup generator that would allow the Capitol to remain open in the case of a power outage.

Galway said the building is not unsafe, but Mr. Bochicchio said there a reasonable chance of a system failure that could shutter at least a portion of the building for some time.

Bochicchio also took issue with those who said the building was in disrepair.

“I don’t think that’s a fair statement to the people who’ve been maintaining it,” he said. “When you get to 25-to-30 years, they can’t keep up with what’s going on.”

Though the project was not on the table Monday, Clark said the state could save $10 million if it moved forward with a proposed Capitol expansion to include a welcome center and other facilities under the parking on the west side of the building at the same time as the repairs and renovations discussed Monday.

This story was published by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on www.gongwer.com