The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • A4

PAGE 4A SUNDAY APRIL 2, 2023 THE NEWS OBSERVER THE HERALD-SUNcover story RALEIGH Thousands of state employees will move offices in the next few years, with two buildings in the state govern- ment complex slated for demolition and a new education campus to be built where one of them is now. But as in other areas of North Car- olina politics, what the legislative branch wants and what the executive branch wants stand in stark contrast. Last state budget, which put the Legislative Services Office in charge of the planned building demo- litions and construction, calls for the demolition to take place by this fall. A leader at the Department of Ad- ministration, which is one of Gov. Roy Cabinet agencies and which previously controlled those buildings, says not so fast calling the demolition timeline what we know, and what we THE PLAN FOR THE STATE GOVERNMENT COMPLEX Legislative Services Officer Paul Coble told The News Observer in an interview that the plan is to try to shrink the footprint of state govern- ment buildings, most of which were built in the 1960s.

Coble, a former Raleigh mayor and Wake County commissioner, oversees some state government buildings, with more added in the past two state budgets. That shifted control to the Legislative Services Office from the Department of Administration regard- ing the Capitol dome replacement and the demolition of the Bath Building and Administration Building, as well as for constructing the new education campus that will go where the Admin- istration is now on Jones Street. In the 2021 state budget, Senate Bill 105, the Legislative Services Office was tasked with developing a long- term master maintenance plan for the Capitol, focusing on the roof and potential work that needed to be done. The result of that will be a full replacement of the roof, including the blue-hued copper dome, and moving HVAC utility boxes off the roof. That work should start this summer, Coble said.

The 2022 state budget slated the Administration and Bath buildings to be demolished by the end of October this year. But one of the top officials at the Department of Administration says that timeline is BATH BUILDING The Bath Building, a North Carolina state government building that con- tained office space for the Depart- ment of Health and Human Services, will be demolished this year. Unlike the Administration Building, this demolition was also requested by Cooper in his 2022 budget proposal. The Bath Building has sat mostly empty for years and has been consid- ered an eyesore. The land will be turned into green space, complementing North Carolina Freedom Park which is under con- struction across the street.

Coble said the building will be the first to come down and the easiest to empty, as fewer than 50 people are working there now. Some floors been used in years. Coble said the demolition could start this sum- mer. Mark Edwards, chief deputy secre- tary of Administration, said that the Bath Building demolition will start in the fourth quarter of the year. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING Edwards said a series of dominoes have to fall in order for the moves to take place.

The State Office, which is now in the Old Revenue Building across from the Capitol on Salisbury Street, will move to the fourth and fifth floors of the Albermarle Building. That building, which houses the De- partment of Insurance, was renovated in 2018. Work should be complete in the coming months for the office, currently led by Auditor Beth Wood, to move into that space. Coble said the move will be the guinea pig for how state gov- ernment office space is shifting. Build- ings designed half a century ago fit office workplaces.

Edwards described the Adminis- tration Building as a and Its basement is the former home of the Emergency Operations Center, which moved into a new building in West Raleigh in 2011. Now the basement holds significant IT equipment for state government. Other floors are the Of- fice, Administration offices, the Office of State Budget and Management and the Office of State Human Resources. Everyone is going to have to move out. But exactly when is still unknown.

The budget, which is state law, says it comes down by the end of October. In a January interview, State Budget Director Kristin Walker said she thought be out of the building by July. Coble said the office would move into the Albermarle Building by July, and the rest of the Administration Building moves would be decided by that agency. Edwards said no timeline for an Administration Building move. He said the agency found out about the demolition plan when everyone else did: when the budget came out.

And he said the 2023 timeline for demolishing Admin- istration was aggres- and that the agency is doing the job we to start the process. He said repeatedly they are moving at deliberate but that they have no plans yet to clear out of the building. The changes will mean the loss of some parking spaces, Edwards said. He said of parking spaces are allocated, and most employees work in person, al- though the reserved spaces are not tracked by whether someone partly works remotely. UPCOMING STATE AGENCY OFFICE MOVES office from Old Revenue Building to Albermarle Building, fourth and fifth floors.

office from Depart- ment of Administration building to Albermarle Building, third floor. AOffice of State Budget and Man- agement from Administration build- ing to Old Revenue Building. NEW EDUCATION BUILDING Once the Administration building is demolished, a new education campus building will be built in the same spot. That new campus will include: AUNC System Office. The office was told in a previous budget to move from Chapel Hill to Raleigh.

cur- rently in rented space in The Dillon building in downtown Raleigh. ACommunity Colleges Office. This office is currently nearby in the build- ing at 200 W. Jones St. ADepartment of Public Instruction.

DPI is currently in its own building on Halifax Mall behind the Legislative Building, which some call the for the color and size of the building. Once the agency leaves the building, it will need to be renovated or eventually demolished, according to Coble. ADepartment of Commerce. Com- merce is now in the Department of Public Instruction building. NEXT FOR OTHER STATE GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS Coble said a recent study of other state government buildings showed that the Dobbs Building, aside from a water problem being fixed, is structu- rally fine.

However, the Archdale Building, where the Department of Public Safety is housed, could eventu- ally be demolished. Coble acknowledged that the archi- tecture of the oft-maligned Bath and Archdale buildings age Coble said the Archdale is heavy scrutiny to just be but no plan for that yet. Nor has there been discussion about an- other part of the 2022 budget, which looked at constructing a building just for the office, on land that is now the surface parking lot across from the N.C. Museum of History. Edwards, who is working with Co- ble on the planned employee shifts and building changes, said state em- ployees should as plans move forward.

There are a lot of moving parts, Edwards said. Coble said building changes are in flux, as they are dependent on fund- ing. The 2023 state budget is moving along quickly, with the ver- sion expected to be voted on in early April, the Senate version to come out in May and a compromise budget to go to desk in June. Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan: 919-829-4877, State workers on the move Raleigh buildings slated for demolition. See coming.

BY DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN The Department of Administration building on Jones Street in downtown Raleigh, N.C., pictured here in March 2023, is slated for demolition. A new education campus will be built in its place. DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN The Albermarle Building houses the Department of Insurance. The State Office is moving into the building in 2023, followed by the Office. DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN The basement of the Department of Administration building on Jones Street, which used to house the Emergency Operations Center.

Emergency Operations is now located in western Raleigh. The basement now includes information technology equipment for state government as well as storage. DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN State employees who work in The Department of Public Instruction, far right, will eventually move into a new education campus that will be built on land that now holds the Administration Building, which is slated for demolition. The tall building on the left is the Archdale Building, which might eventually be demolished, though there are no current plans to do so. State Government Complex buildings surround the historic State Capitol and Legislative Building in downtown Raleigh..