Whether to approve funding to build a terraced pedestrian mall between the East Village and the Capitol will be one of several infrastructure decisions ahead of the Legislature as its 2006 session begins this week.

Despite other looming needs, among them a possible new maximum-security prison and the cost the crumbling Henry A. Wallace State Office Building, officials say they’re hopeful the West Capitol Terrace project, which was part of an agreement reached in 2001 between the city of Des Moines and the state, will be included in Gov. Tom Vilsack’s budget recommendations.

“The idea is, if we really want to get the full value of the roughly $82 million we spent on repairing the Capitol, what we ought to do is to create this parklike structure,” said Mollie Anderson, director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services. The department has requested $2.3 million for West Capitol Terrace, which would complete the walkway as the first phase of the project. Subsequent phases would extend pathways through the 10-acre area, which would be planted with additional trees.

In addition to state funding, state officials say they’re also hoping to convince a private foundation that’s considering building a cancer survivors’ park at Gateway West to instead combine that project – which would bring with it $1 million in private funding – with the West Capitol Terrace project.

Funding the West Capitol Terrace project is one of five recommendations forwarded to Vilsack in September by a nine-member property management advisory committee made up of private-sector executives and Anderson.

Envisioned as “a physical link between the state and the city of Des Moines,” the central element of the park would consist of a pedestrian walkway extending from East Seventh and Locust streets east to the Capitol steps, with a series of three plazas for various-sized public gatherings. The terraced walkways, which would be handicapped accessible, would replace an asphalt parking lot.

An additional $100 million in revenue from a recent refinancing of tobacco settlement bonds has created a large pool of funds that must be spent on infrastructure projects, said Sen. Steven Warnstadt, co-chair of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Capitals Appropriations Subcommittee. “Without that we would have had only about $30 million to meet all of the state’s infrastructure needs,” he said.

Another factor, he said, is that in fiscal year 2007 the state will fulfill its funding commitment to transfer of wagering tax revenues to the Endowment for Iowa’s Health account. “So starting in fiscal year 2008, we anticipate an additional $70 million [per year] to be able to go into the state’s infrastructure fund, as well as any additional revenue generated by the new gaming facilities,” he said. “I think we’re in the process now where we can look at some longer-term investments.”

Warnstadt added: “I’ve been impressed with the commitment on the part of local government regarding the downtown area. I think the state does need to follow through on its commitment and be a solid partner. Obviously, a recommendation on a new maximum-security prison could eat up all of the funds, but I think (West Capitol Terrace) could make a very positive impression for visitors to the state.”

The West Capitol Terrace project is one of this year’s top legislative priorities of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, said Jay Byers, the Partnership’s senior vice president of government relations and public policy “Basically the state has made a commitment to complete that park, and we feel it is very much a good use of state funds to complete that park,” he said.

According to Des Moines City Councilwoman Christine Hensley, city officials plan to meet with representatives of the R.A. Bloch Foundation, which is currently considering the Gateway West Park as a possible site for a cancer survivors’ park, to determine if the foundation would consider West Capitol Terrace. The foundation was created by Richard Bloch, founder of H & R Block, after he successfully fought a presumed fatal case of lung cancer to live another 26 years.

The Partnership has not taken a formal position on the best location for the cancer survivor park, Byers said.

Plans for the project date back to 2001, when the Capitol Planning Commission became concerned about the potential of renovation projects in the East Village obstructing the view of the Capitol from downtown. The Des Moines City Council reached an agreement with the state to amend the building codes accordingly, and to cooperate with the state in the construction of the now-completed parking garage between Des Moines Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to replace the parking lot.

“The city did its part, and the state now needs to fulfill its part,” Anderson said. “There are 100,000 people that visit the Capitol each year, so it is an attraction and it is a good way to get people downtown, and it is a part of making the East Village a great place to be.”



Other recommendations of the Property Management Advisory Committee:

– Vacate and demolish the Henry A. Wallace State Office Building and construct a new 350,000-square-foot state office building at a new site to be determined on property already owned by the state.

– Address deferred maintenance needs, including the development of a maintenance manual for state buildings, dedicated funding streams for preventive maintenance and regular reviews of each building.

– Move forward with funding of the Carriage House visitors’ center project.

– Consider the use of long-term financing methods for construction of new facilities or major improvements.