Kentucky’s $260 million Capitol renovation is being delayed, but why?
The massive renovation of the Kentucky state Capitol in Frankfort won’t take place after this year’s legislative session after all.
Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration has chosen to start the $260 million-plus renovation after the General Assembly adjourns its 2025 legislative session, according to a letter from Finance Cabinet Secretary Holly Johnson to legislative leaders obtained via open records request.
The original plan was for work on the much-delayed renovation of the Capitol to begin in less than two months. While that began, construction on a temporary legislative chambers was set to begin on top of the Capitol parking garage, just to the East of the Capitol Annex. Under this plan, the state Capitol would be shut down for renovations for 42 months.
What caused the timeline change? Johnson, in a Feb. 12 letter to House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect and Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, indicated that the need to “ensure the continuity of Kentucky’s state government” was the reason.
Both Johnson and Finance Cabinet spokesperson Kinsey Morrison mentioned additional work on the terraces surrounding the Capitol building as complicating factors.
“As the consultants were working through their full investigations to design a renovation of such an old and large facility, items were discovered that require further alterations, such as the terrace work. That part of the design is being re-worked, which necessitates additional time,” Morrison wrote.
Decisions on how to address the newfound issues with the terraces could significantly “change the scope and the cost of the project,” Johnson wrote.
How is the Kentucky state Capitol renovation being paid for?
The last state budget, passed in 2022, authorized the sale of $260 million in bond funds to finance the renovation. In 2020, the previous two-year budget cycle, the legislature included $22 million in bond funds for Capitol campus renovations. No new funds for Capitol renovations have been included in the latest draft version of the state budget this year.
The $260 million-plus mark is much increased from the initial $100 million estimate in Oct. 2021, when serious talk of a full-scale renovation first surfaced. The general contractor on the project is Messer Construction.
The total contract for construction of the temporary chambers is set to cost about $25.8 million, according to documents from Messer Construction obtained via open records request earlier this year.
In response to a question posed by Stivers and Osborne, Johnson estimated that the increased project cost due to inflation would be around $15 million to $17 million. The total 42 month timeline for renovations would end around Fall 2028.
The initial Request for Proposals called for the temporary chambers to total more than 27,000 square feet. The temporary chambers for the House and Senate are to measure around 3,600 and 3,400 square feet, respectively, with the remainder of the space being dedicated to offices as well as staff and conference rooms.
While the Capitol renovation is ongoing, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Supreme Court told the Herald-Leader that the plan is for the court to move their offices to a building in close proximity to the Administrative Office of the Courts and hold oral arguments at the Old State Capitol building.
