JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (TNS) -- With nearly $30 million in renovations already underway on the exterior of the Missouri Capitol, a panel of state officials is now turning to what could be an expensive and long-lasting makeover of the interior of the century-old building.
But the long-sought renovation of the centerpiece of Missouri government continues to face a number of hurdles, ranging from the potential cost to how long the project will take. And, there are unanswered questions about where lawmakers and their aides will go when their offices are being torn apart and rebuilt.
In a meeting Tuesday, a consultant hired to map out a series of upgrades and historic fixes told state officials he wouldn't have cost estimates until the end of December.
And the work could take as long as seven years if it is phased in and not done in one fell swoop, said David Hart, executive vice president of Salt Lake City-based MOCA.
When mention of that time span raised eyebrows among members of the Missouri Capitol Commission, Hart said, "I don't want to sound rude, but you just have to put up with it."
State officials have been mulling an overhaul of the offices, hearing rooms and marble-lined corridors that make up the nearly 500,000-square-foot building for more than a decade.
In recent years, officials were considering a $35 million plan to turn the nearby Missouri Department of Transportation headquarters into an annex of the Capitol, connected via a tunnel.
The move would have freed up space in the crowded first floor offices to allow workers to remove mezzanines that house freshman and minority party legislators but are inaccessible to constituents who cannot climb stairs.
The mezzanines also block windows that allow natural light into the building, leaving some hallways darker than the original designers intended.
Under a new plan being worked on by MOCA, Hart said the state could gain an estimated 100,000 square feet of space for lawmakers by extending the Capitol basement south toward High Street, which is Jefferson City's main downtown street.
There also could be an underground visitor center on the north side of the Capitol that could be the entry point for the estimated 450,000 people who visit the building annually.
For now, however, there are no cost estimates.
"Things are fluid. Just stay tuned for the next few months," assistant House Clerk Dana Miller told members of the commission.
Commission member Sarah Steelman, who oversees the Office of Administration, would not say whether Gov. Mike Parson supported the latest version.
"I think we have a long way to go. I think the cost is where the rubber meets the road," Steelman said.
In other states, similar renovation projects have been big budget items. In Utah, an overhaul of the Capitol in 2004 cost $260 million. A rehab of the Minnesota Capitol that ended last year cost $310 million.
Even if lawmakers and Parson agree to move forward with the project, Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick told the commission that finding space for Capitol employees when the work is underway could cause headaches during the multiyear duration of such a project.
"It will be a political nightmare to get everyone to move out," said the Shell Knob Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee. "I'm just trying to be realistic about it. People are going to have to be flexible."
As for finding money to pay for the upgrades, Fitzpatrick said it could be done if people understand that the renovations are needed if the building is going to remain viable in the coming decades.
"I think we can figure out a way to pay for it. I don't want to put a Band-Aid on it," Fitzpatrick said.
Meanwhile, the exterior work is set to continue until late 2020. Workers have already enclosed much of the building in scaffolding and are repairing cracked and crumbling stone on the exterior walls.
In the coming weeks, workers will surround the dome with scaffolding and remove the bronze statue of Ceres, the ancient Roman goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. The 1921 statue, atop the dome, will be removed with a crane and sent for a year-long cleaning and refurbishment.