The already over-budget and overdue Congressional Visitors Center will probably come in even later and pricier than expected, senior auditors told a Senate panel Wednesday.
Construction on the 580,000-square-foot site — already $200 million over budget and two years behind schedule — was stalled earlier this month when a problem with the center’s fire-protection system was discovered, officials told U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., as he chaired a subcommittee on legislative affairs hearing.
The Architect of the Capitol Alan Hantman told Allard that he was confident the problem — which was not disclosed because it involves the Capitol’s security system — could be resolved quickly.
But his testimony was contradicted by two executives from the Government Accountability Office, who said the design flaw in the fire system was the most serious of an array of problems that could delay construction and drive up costs.
“Our confidence is less than it was a month ago,” the GAO’s Bernard Unger said.
Unger said his office was revising its cost and schedule estimates and would report its finding in a hearing next month. The $584 million visitors center, which has torn up the grounds of the Capitol, has been plagued by cost overruns and delays almost from the beginning.
The architect’s office said that part of the problem stems from a new emphasis on building security after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which occurred after the project began. In his testimony Wednesday, Hantman stuck by his earlier prediction that the center would be open for business by next summer.
“We’ve had some bumps in the road,” he told Allard, “but we’re moving forward.”
