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By
Associated Press
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Published: Sat, April 12, 2008 - 7:50 pm
Last Updated: Sat, April 12, 2008 - 7:57 pm
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A legislative panel studying the futureof the Alabama Statehouse agrees the leaking structure should be
abandoned by the Legislature and a new building constructed.
The Legislative Building Authority is looking at building a
220,000-square-foot Statehouse and parking deck for about $170
million.
What they don't agree about is the location -- near the current
site or, in a dramatic leap, at the far end of Montgomery's Dexter
Avenue, creating a National Mall-type environment like Washington.
Senate President Pro Tem Hinton Mitchem of Albertville says the
question is whether it's built behind the Capitol or in downtown
Montgomery.
The Statehouse, where the House and Senate meet, is located
diagonally across the street from the rear of the historic Capitol,
where the governor has his offices.
Statehouse committee rooms are often filled to overflowing, and
the House and Senate galleries sometimes run out of space for
spectators. The roof has leaked off and on for years, and the
bottom floor has moisture problems.
The Legislature created a six-member group last year to study
whether to renovate the existing Statehouse or build a new meeting
place for the House and Senate.
An architect's study says renovating the 45-year-old Statehouse
would cost more than erecting a new building. The architect's study
also pointed out design flaws that no one considered during
construction in 1963 but that are now major problems in these
security-conscious times.
Bailout Bill Passes Senate
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I think this article and the one about tax-free groceries go together. It reminds me of the story about the hunter and his dog. They’ve been in the woods for days looking for game and found none. That night sitting around the camp fire the hunger became unbearable for the hunter so he chopped the dog’s tail off and boiled it to eat. When he was through,he gave the bones to the dog and the dog licked his hand for it. That hunter in this case is the legislative panel and you know who the dog is,We the tax payers.We might get a few tax-free groceries if we give them the bank.YEP,put them in trailers with no bathrooms and put portable potties outside the trailers for them.