The Architect of the Capitol has extended the estimated opening for the long-troubled Capitol Visitor Center deep into summer 2007, citing continued problems with the fire protection system, gift shops and utility tunnel.
Architect Alan Hantman told a Senate subcommittee last week that the “most historic” project is moving ahead, and a mid- to late July 2007 opening is now in the offing for the 580,000-square-foot underground center, which will increase the Capitol’s size by two-thirds.
“The progress made has been significant and the nature and quality of the project spaces continue to become more apparent as ceilings are completed and scaffolding is removed,” Hantman said.
The dates “appear to be reasonable tentative targets for opening the CVC and House and Senate expansion spaces,” said officials with the Government Accountability Office, which has been following the progress of the project with monthly reports.
“However, we are not as confident as we would like to be about whether the CVC team will be able to meet the challenges, risks, and uncertainties that continue to face the project, given the difficulties the team has historically had in meeting its targets and milestones,” according to the testimony.
A month after the center opens, the House and Senate expansion spaces should be ready, the architect said. The project, which has left the Capitol grounds a mess, is more than two years behind schedule and $200 million costlier than the original budget projected.
Work on the $584 million endeavor has progressed since the GAO’s last meeting with the Senate subcommittee, the auditor said. According to the report, contractors finished restoring the portion of East Capitol Street that runs above the center’s utility tunnel, completed installation of the veneer plaster portion of the great hall and finished installing the piping for the sprinkler system.
“We’re not done but we’re putting on all of our finishes,” said Frank Drohan, senior engineering technician with Rockville-based National Fire Protection Inc.
But the wall stone installation remains well behind schedule, the fire alarm system has required repeated redesigns, delaying critical testing and gift shop construction has slowed because the costs “greatly exceeded the budget for this work,” according to the GAO.
This week’s CVC work
» Skylight installation above Great Hall
» Floor stone installation in Exhibition Hall
» Base and wall stone installation in the East Front
Source: Architect of the Capitol weekly update
