$7.8 Million Needed for North Dakota Capitol Building Windows

(Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(Michael Achterling – North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota Legislature may be asked to provide more than $4 million to replace the windows at the Capitol in Bismarck, with the total project costing nearly twice that amount.

The Capitol Grounds Planning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend moving forward with a $7.8 million window replacement project. The 21-story building has 818 windows.

Members of the North Dakota Historical Society debated between wood replica, steel and aluminum window fixtures, but ultimately decided on the wood replica to remain historically consistent.

“It is the wood replica that matches what was originally put in the building,” said Tom Job, facility physical plant director of the Facility Management Division for the Office of Management and Budget.

Brandon Solberg, director of the Facility Management Division of OMB, said the wood replica window was the middle option in terms of total cost. The steel option would’ve cost more, $8.5 million, he said, while the aluminum fixtures would have been less expensive at $7.1 million.

Solberg said an additional $4.1 million would be needed from the Legislature before the project could move forward. Gov. Doug Burgum’s preliminary budget did not include any additional funding for the window replacement project, but Solberg said he was hopeful that Gov.-elect Kelly Armstrong would include the money in his proposal when he presents it to the Legislature in January.

Solberg also said another option would be to use a portion of OMB’s $40 million deferred maintenance budget to complete the project, but was unsure if the window project would meet the criteria for using those funds.

If money for the project is approved by the Legislature, installation of the new windows could begin as early as August.

Job said he hopes the Legislature will allocate the money for the project using its emergency clause, which would require a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber and would make the funds available as soon as the bill is filed with the Secretary of State’s Office instead of waiting for the new budget to take effect.

“That would be great to not miss out on the season next summer,” said Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller, chair of the Capitol Grounds Planning Commission. “That emergency clause would be a great avenue, if possible.”

Job said new windows could increase the building’s heating and cooling efficiency by 30% to 40%.

He added that specialists would need to come to Bismarck for the installation because of the building’s highrise design and that the entire installation would be done from the building’s interior.

“This is going to be quite an extensive project and a time-consuming project,” Job said.