Cannon renovation expected to go $137 million over budget – Roll Call

The price tag for the Cannon House Office Building renovation project continues to rise as one leg of the construction effort lags years behind schedule, an Architect of the Capitol inspector general report shows.

The project began in 2014 and was originally expected to cost $752.7 million, stretched over 10 years and five phases (numbered 0-4). That original cost estimate has jumped to $890.1 million, a $137.4 million or 18 percent increase.

The added infusion of taxpayer money marks at least a $24.1 million increase since September 2019 when the House Administration Committee examined the massive renovation at a hearing. In his testimony before that panel, Terrell Dorn, managing director of infrastructure operations at the Government Accountability Office, cited an AOC report from June 2019 projecting the total cost to range between approximately $828 million and $866 million.

Dorn, who worked in a similar monitoring capacity on the Capitol Visitor Center project, said in a phone interview that it was not unusual for renovation projects to deviate 20 percent from the original budget. The CVC was initially projected to cost approximately $150 million in 1998. When the space opened in 2008, the final invoice reached $621 million.

Cannon, first used in 1908, is the oldest congressional office building with the exception of the Capitol. It is riddled with substantial environmental, health, safety and operational issues. Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and asbestos, which can cause adverse health effects, have both been found in Cannon during the construction process.

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Cannon renovation expected to go $137 million over budget - Roll Call