The state Capitol, built more than 100 years ago, has problems with its sewer lines under the basement and their repair will force its closure for at least a weekend and possibly as long as four weeks, officials said.
Also, a more severe sewer-line problem will close the Capitol's cafeteria, also in the basement, for more than three months. The cafeteria will be renovated and end up under new management when it reopens after Labor Day, said Kelly Boyd, chief deputy in the secretary of state's office.
The Capitol will be closed to the public and workers from 6 p.m. May 19 through May 21 to repair rusted and corroded sewer lines beneath its basement floor, officials in the secretary of state's office said.
"We can't have anything going through the sewer lines at all because that will mess our project up," Boyd said. "We have to secure the entire building."
The sewer lines are in the process of being relined, which is "essentially like inserting a balloon inside the pipe," said Chris Powell, a spokesman for Secretary of State Mark Martin, a Republican from Prairie Grove.
The cafeteria will be closed from May 25-Sept. 5 because that sewer line is beyond repair and needs to be replaced, Boyd said. The work will require using a jackhammer to dig a hole in the cafeteria floor, he said.
House Chief of Staff Roy Ragland told the House Management Committee in a recent meeting that the Capitol could be shut down for four weeks if the other sewer lines can't be relined and the project requires jackhammering the rest of the basement floors.
Boyd said it's unlikely that the sewer-relining project will fail and require the closing of the Capitol, based on the assessment of the contractor, Lining and Coating Solutions of Olive Branch, Miss.
As for when the Capitol would be closed under such a scenario, Powell said, "That would have to be determined and, as of right now, it is hypothetical.
"Most likely, it would not be an immediate situation. Plans and contingencies would need to be looked at. If it were absolutely necessary, however, the building would not be able to operate without water and sewer while such a project took place," Powell said.
The Capitol holds offices for six of the state's seven constitutional officers, the House and Senate offices and chambers, and Bureau of Legislative Research and Arkansas Legislative Audit offices. The attorney general is the only constitutional officer without offices in the Capitol.
The building was constructed between 1899 and 1915 on the site of the old state penitentiary using prison labor, according to the secretary of state's website. The first time the building was used for a legislative session was in 1911, for the 38th General Assembly.
The cast-iron sewer lines below the basement are believed to be original, dating to between 1911 and 1915.
"When the basement was finished out in the late 1940s, there could have been some relaying of the pipe then," Powell said.
The line for the cafeteria was installed in the late 1990s and "the grease, etc., has sped up their corrosion," he said.
"We began to notice slow drainage in the cafeteria lines and called in a company [Affordable Rooter] to run cameras through the lines to inspect them and that work was done on Feb. 27 of this year," he said. "Following that, we ran cameras through the rest of the system and discovered additional issues."
Boyd said he suspects the problems with the sewer lines have been known about for more than a decade.
"We don't have details on what previous administrations might have encountered," Powell said.
The relining project started last weekend and will continue every weekend in May as well as at night this Monday-Wednesday and May 15-17, he said.
"We will have signs clearly marking which bathrooms or drinking fountains will be closed during that time," Powell said.
State Auditor Andrea Lea said the secretary of state's office has indicated that it plans to place plastic on plumbing fixtures as a reminder not to use the two toilets and sinks in her office at certain times.
Powell said the estimate for replacing the cafeteria's sewer line is about $200,000 and the estimate for relining the other lines is $176,345.
He said the office has asked for authorization from the state Department of Finance and Administration and the Legislative Council's Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Subcommittee to transfer funds within Martin's office budget to cover the costs.
Boyd said the secretary of state's office also plans to spend roughly $450,000 renovating the cafeteria out of its existing budget and to take over its management.
Boyd informed Pam Kirchner in a letter dated March 31 that the secretary of state's office was terminating its contract with her for operation and management of the Capitol cafeteria, effective June 30. The current one-year contracts ends on that date.
"Due to the significant deterioration of the sewer system in the Capitol cafe, it will be necessary to cease operations by May 25, 2017. And, with repairs starting shortly thereafter, we ask that you have any personal effects and equipment removed by June 2, 2017," Boyd wrote in his letter to Kirchner. "Rental payments for the months of April, May and June 2017 will be waived as a result of this termination."
Kirchner has paid $500 per month in rent to the secretary of state's office under her current contract, Powell said.
Boyd said he wasn't dissatisfied with Kirchner's operation of the cafeteria.
"It was time to make a change," Boyd said.
The secretary of state's office will either operate the cafeteria and hire employees to work there or hire a contractor to staff and operate the cafeteria with the office managing the cafeteria, he said.
"It is whatever way provides the best benefit to the state and the best services to the state. We want to do the right thing," Boyd said.
Kirchner said her family has operated the Capitol cafeteria for 38 years and she has worked there full time for 25 years.
She initially declined to comment about the termination of her contract.
"It's all OK. Everything is OK," Kirchner said.
She said she plans to work with her brother, Allen Maxenberger, in the 1515 Cafe in a state Department of Finance and Administration building, known as the 1515 building, south of the Capitol. Maxenberger owns the 1515 Cafe, which leases space from the state. The 1515 Building is on West Seventh Street.
A Section on 05/07/2017