.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} When the Iowa Statehouse was dedicated in 1884, the Capitol complex consisted of just the land beneath the structure and a few acres that formed the west lawn. Boarding houses, businesses and private residences surrounded the new Capitol. The acquisition of more land and construction of 13 office buildings on the now 187-acre complex would follow in the next century, with the newest structure, the Iowa Judicial Branch Building, completed just four years ago.

The next four years will bring a level of development activity to the Capitol complex not seen for several decades. The biggest piece of the planned additions moved forward last month with the Legislature’s approval of a three-year, $77 million appropriation for a major new office complex and parking garage to anchor the north end of the Capitol complex.

The new office building, which at 350,000 square feet will be the largest office building on the Capitol grounds, will cap a series of projects designed to move state employees out of leased office space throughout Polk County and save an estimated $7 million annually in lease costs.

When the yet-to-be-named building is completed in 2011, the Capitol complex will house possibly the most people in its history – about 6,000 in all – said Mollie Anderson, director of the Department of Administrative Services.

“It’s really a pretty exciting time on campus,” she said. “I think we have as much construction as they did in the ’70s going on, and probably the largest expansion of the Capitol grounds since the early 1900s.”

Within the next few weeks, state officials hope to choose a design firm from a list of five finalists. The building will house state workers from at least seven state agencies that now occupy the Henry A. Wallace Building or leased office space. More than 135,000 square feet of office space that is now being leased will be brought back to the Capitol complex.

Click to see larger
The Capitol complex will expand to the north with the addition of a new state office building and the acquisition of the Mercy Capitol building.

Anderson said the results of an independent cost-benefit analysis of the project indicate it meets a 5 percent return on investment criterion required by legislators. “And we’ve also validated some construction estimates,” she said. “So we’re fairly certain now that the funding provided (will be sufficient), short of something happening in China or in other countries that would really drive up the cost of steel and glass.”

Anderson said she also expects the state to reach an agreement “within the next 30 days” with Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines officials on a price for the 10-acre Mercy Capitol hospital complex, which the state plans to use as an auxiliary building for the Capitol complex. The Legislature approved an infrastructure bill last month that provides up to $750,000 for a down payment on the property, located just east of the planned state office building site.

“Our goal is to lock in a price right now that we think will be in the best interest of the citizens, rather than waiting until 2010 or 2011,” Anderson said.

Mercy plans to replace Mercy Capitol with the Mercy West Lakes Hospital in West Des Moines. The state wants to convert the hospital building into a multiuse structure that will serve as a vehicle fleet maintenance and operations center, as well as provide storage for the entire Capitol complex. The fitness center and cafeteria already in the hospital will be retained for use by state employees working in the new office building, which will enable it to be built at a lower cost, she said.

The process of designing and building the new state office building will face intense scrutiny, as officials strive to avoid the costly mistakes that led to the decision to replace the Wallace Building, which has been determined to need $32 million in repairs to make it fully usable. Some agencies, among them the Department of Public Safety, have already been moved from the building. State officials have not yet decided whether the Wallace Building will be demolished or if some portion of it may be salvaged.

Legislators have mandated the new building must incorporate energy-efficiency specifications that exceed state building code requirements “and have the potential for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver certification from the United States Green Building Council.”

The combination of the new state office building and the purchase of Mercy Capitol “will really create a north complex for the Capitol,” Anderson said.

“One of the things we really worked hard on is making certain that we would use good office space building standards, and that we make the most of the investment that citizens have already made in this,” Anderson said. “We’re now 99 percent occupied on the Capitol complex. Now what we’re doing with this is making certain that our prime office space on this campus is used for people, not for storage or mail or any of those services.”

The most recent addition to the Capitol Complex, an $18.5 million renovation and expansion of a former records storage building on East Court Avenue into a new headquarters for the Iowa Department of Public Safety, was completed this spring. That two-year project allowed approximately 175 of the department’s administrative staff to move from offices scattered throughout the Wallace Building and at two leased locations.

“It’s just a much more professional environment,” said Jim Saunders, public information officer for the Iowa Department of Public Safety. For instance, rather than having to share limited conference room space with a number of other departments, the staff has access to at least one conference room on each of the building’s five floors. Among the state law enforcement agencies housed in the 110,000-square-foot building are the Iowa Highway Patrol headquarters, the Division of Criminal Investigation, the State Fire Marshal and the Division of Narcotics Enforcement.

An information desk in the front lobby also makes it more convenient for the public to obtain records or conduct other business with the department, Saunders said.

Next on the construction list is a planned 37,000-square-foot building to house the Iowa Utilities Board and the Consumer Advocate Division. The agency plans to pay for the estimated $7.5 million project with revenue from assessments the board is paid by utility companies and other organizations. It will be built into a grassy berm on the far southeast side of the Capitol complex along East 14th Street and is expected to be completed in 2009.

The new Utilities Board building will incorporate energy-efficient design concepts “so that people in other Iowa cities can really look to replicate that building,” Anderson said. The field of potential design firms for that structure has been narrowed to three, she said.

The Capitol complex will become more user-friendly not just for state employees but for visitors as well. As summer approaches, construction workers are scrambling to complete the first phase of the West Capitol Terrace. The $2.3 million project, begun a year ago, is transforming a parking lot into a park-like promenade stretching from the Capitol’s west steps to the intersection of East Seventh and Locust streets.

State officials have promised that the project will be completed in time for it to serve as the finish line for the Hy-Vee Triathlon on June 17.

“It will look finished, even if we have to bring in Astroturf,” Anderson said.

The West Capitol Terrace is “our chance to create not just an ornamental park, but a used park, like the Washington Mall,” she said. “That means there will be pathways, and we hope to eventually have a couple of bathrooms and concessions that will draw people to the park.”

Another park still in the works for the Capitol complex is a proposed park honoring cancer survivors. The R.A. Bloch Foundation would donate $1 million toward the park if the city of Des Moines can find a suitable site for it. Anderson said sites near Mercy Capitol or the Wallace Building are among those being considered.

“It’s something the [Bloch] family very much wants to site on the Capitol complex,” Anderson said. “We continue to explore possible locations for that park. We hope to reach an agreement with the city that the family will be happy with.”