The state is putting the brakes, temporarily, on plans for a new $89 million Senate Office Building.
The seven-member selection committee that was reviewing bids from contractors for the project has scrapped its selection process and called for the creation of new criteria for the project. The delay will set the project back by about a month, but Department of Administration spokesman Curt Yoakum said the building is still on target to be completed in 2015.
The selection committee, which meets behind closed doors, includes Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook; former state Supreme Court Justice Paul Anderson; Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope; Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester; House Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul; Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood; and Rep. Raymond Dehn, DFL-Minneapolis.
The new senate office building is intended to relieve overcrowding at the State Capitol, which is on the brink of a four-year, $272 million renovation. Funding for the new office building was included in the $2.1 billion tax bill that passed the Legislature in the final hours of the 2013 session.
