There will be more stone and less expensive coated glass on the ends. The 16-foot ceilings on the ground floor will be brought down to 9-feet or so in the public classrooms. Using two columns instead of 7-foot thick trusses to hold up the auditorium ceiling saved $1 million. And four elevators have been axed under the new project budget released Monday.
"There were elevators all over the building," said Penny Koal, project manager the Department of General Administration. She briefed the State Capitol Committee on the latest designs for the $221-million, two building project.
One of the elevators cut out would have been publicly accessible at the level of Heritage Park near Capitol Lake. Sen. Karen Fraser had supported that elevator as a way for the disabled and elderly to move easily from the park up to the level of the Capitol Campus.
"If there are any compromises, we don't have quite the connection to Heritage Park we planned to," said Koal.
Not only is the elevator gone, but the connection to the park is moved to the switchback walking trail now descending the bluff near the campus. ThatÂ’s because the terraces that form the stair-steps have been pulled in 20 feet to save costs.
All the changes brought the price for the project, sans design and project management, to $166,028,000, or $65,000 under budget. The whole financial plan will be scrubbed again later this year, Koal said.
