Kansas House-Senate panel seeking fresh insight into future of Docking – Topeka Capital Journal

The Kansas Legislatures committee that monitors state building projects Thursday accepted the offer of a private firm to tour Docking State Office Building and formulate cost estimates for renovating or repurposing the Topeka building slated for demolition.

The administration of Gov. Sam Brownback has sought to take a wrecking ball to the tall office structure west of the Capitol after relocating hundreds of state employees to newly leased space in Topeka. That plan stalled when the 2016 Legislature compelled Brownback to sever a contract with a bank to finance construction of a $20 million heating and cooling plant to replace systems located in the basement of Docking.

The bipartisan Joint Committee on State Building Construction agreed to allow McGowan Gordon Construction, with offices in Manhattan and Kansas City, Mo., to tour Docking for the purpose of evaluating alternatives for the mothballed office building. The company offered to develop a report on possible uses of Docking at no cost to the state.

We require good information to make good decisions around here, said Rep. J.R. Claeys, a Salina Republican on the committee.

The Kansas Department of Administration was instructed by the joint committees chairman to cooperate with McGowan Gordon staff on a tour of Docking.

I hope you guys are on board to do that, said Rep. Adam Lusker, the Frontenac Democrat who chairs the committee.

Were certainly happy to give them a tour, said Sarah Shipman, secretary of the state Department of Administration.

The McGowan Gordon construction company was involved in the Flint Hills Discovery Center and the Kansas Department of Agriculture administration building, both in Manhattan; the KBI Forensic Science Center in Topeka; and the American Museum of Natural History at Prairiefire in Johnson County.

The joint committee tentatively scheduled its own tour of Docking for April 26. There is an expectation lawmakers on the panel will review the construction firms findings later in the 2017 legislative session, said Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka.

I feel, finally, the Legislature is taking some control of this project, Kelly said.

Sen. John Skubal, R-Overland Park, said he was curious whether the committee would have interest in hiring a company to propose a design-build plan authored by a builder in conjunction with an architect. Renovation of Docking will be complex if it involves removal of several floors and retention of the heating and cooling infrastructure in the basement, he said.

This is going to be very, very complicated. I think that (design-build) delivery system for this building, as complicated as its going to be, may be something that we should investigate, he said.

Lusker said the committee could end up recommending a design-build approach, but input from McGowan Gordon staff appears to be a logical move.

This is a first step in a seemingly long process, the chairman said. After we get some findings back from the contractor, then maybe we can look at our other options if there are options for the building, which hopefully there will be.

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Kansas House-Senate panel seeking fresh insight into future of Docking - Topeka Capital Journal