New Senate Office Building: Escalated Costs and Delayed Competition

To date, $85,147,000 has been appropriated for construction of a new Senate Office Building to be known as the Philip A. Hart Office Building, and the Architect of the Capitol is seeking an additional $37.5 million. The project under construction differs considerably from that envisioned by authorizing legislation. The office building itself includes office space, galleries, an atrium, a dining room, automated systems for handling materials and mail, and environmental control and life safety systems. The project also includes a two-story multimedia room, a physical fitness facility, a parking garage, expansion of the cafeteria in the Dirksen Office Building, and extension of the capitol subway.