Construction on the new Alabama State House is on schedule to be completed in time for the next legislative session in January 2027.
Members of the Legislative Council approved contracting with the RSA in September 2023 to design and build a new State House.
“We’re still on track, still on schedule. The last meeting that we had we were still under budget and we feel good about that,” Pat Harris, secretary of the Senate, told 1819 News on Monday. “That’s basically where we are. You’ve got about 300,350 people working every day on the inside of the building. You can still see people on the outside, but most of the work is going on the inside, you know, hanging ceilings, pulling wire, laying flooring, all the sheet rock is done. We’re in good shape. We feel good about it.”
The project costs will be reimbursed to the RSA by the State, with an 8% administrative fee added. The State could either buy the property from the RSA after its completion or enter into a 25-year lease agreement that would eventually also make the State the property owner.
The new State House will be located behind the old one. The old State House will eventually be demolished and replaced with a green space area.
“That contract will be let by RSA probably by the end of this month and they’ll probably start deconstruction of this building probably in late November, early December. They’ll have to take this building down in sections,” Harris said.
The current State House opened in 1963 as the Alabama Highway Department Building. It housed the Alabama Department of Transportation, then known as the Alabama State Highway Department, until 1985 when the Alabama Legislature moved in.
Harris said staffers will begin moving into the new State House in late November or early December.
“The building layout will be different simply with the chambers on the same floor. The leadership in both the House and the Senate will be underneath the chambers. They won’t be on the same floor as the chambers. All the Senate members, House members will all be on the back wing,” Harris said. “We’ve fashioned a lot of what we’ve designed over there around what they’ve done in Virginia in their legislative building. The ability for the public to come in and out of the building and parking will all of course improve. We’re just looking forward to it. It’s going to be very nice.”
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