The state Senate plans to use about $205,000 in legislative facilities funding to help pay for improvements in the Old Supreme Court Chamber on the south end of the state Capitol, lawmakers learned Tuesday.
Sen. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, said the improvements are aimed at fixing three main problems in the second-floor room. The room is now used for legislative committee meetings and is sometimes used by the public.
"Heating and cooling of the space is just terrible. It's either way too hot or it's way too cold," he said during a meeting of the Joint Interim Committee on Legislative Facilities, for which he serves as a co-chairman.
"Hopefully, some of the work that is just being done on the exterior will address the insulation of those windows. But we are having the HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] assessed."
The paint has been peeling from the walls and the ceiling in the room, and a consultant has identified the problem, Ingram said.
Architect Gary Clements is expected to have a report in the next 10 days to identify fixes and estimate the costs to address the paint, and heating-and-air problems, he said.
The sound system in the room is going to be replaced and will conform with the historic nature of the room, and "that is in process," Ingram said.
"We have already expended approximately $70,000" on the sound system and other work, Marty Garrity, director of the Bureau of Legislative Research, said after the committee's meeting.
The committee Tuesday approved transferring the remaining $124,024.16 to the Senate to help fund the painting, and heating-and-air work.
The committee also approved allotting about $205,000 in legislative facilities funds for the House in fiscal 2018, which starts July 1, to help renovate committee Rooms 130 and 138. Last month, the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council awarded $981,000 in real estate transfer taxes to the House to renovate the two committee rooms and adjoining offices.
The House was allotted legislative facilities funds in fiscal 2016 to help renovate Rooms 149 and 151 on the north end of the Capitol, Garrity said. Last year, the council awarded the House $824,000 to help fund the renovation of the rooms and adjoining offices. The work was completed in advance of this year's regular legislative session.
House Chief of Staff Roy Ragland told the legislative facilities committee that the renovation of Rooms 130 and 138 will start in July, and he hopes that work is complete by November.
Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, said she is interested in renovating Rooms 171, 272 and 309 on the south end of the state Capitol, and she wants lawmakers to find out how much that renovation work will cost.
"The next time, it would certainly appear to be the Senate's turn to use those funds which would be a year from July 1," said Ragland.
Metro on 06/07/2017