General Assembly’s new downtown Richmond digs
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A comfy new committee room. Photo: Courtesy of Virginia Department of General Services
The General Assembly's stately new office tower on Broad Street is finally done.
What's happening: Officials will cut the ribbon at 1pm Wednesday, after which the nearly $300 million structure will open to the public for tours.
Why it matters: The building promises to ease some of the pains of participatory government in Virginia with amenities like cushioned seating and charging ports.
- Now you can weigh in on legislation and get a slice of pizza at the new café.
Zoom in: The dark hallways of its predecessor are replaced by bright, spacious corridors lined with plush chairs.
- Cramped committee rooms have been transformed into spacious auditoriums with seating for hundreds.
- A "constituency center" offers the public a place to relax and charge phones and laptops.
- An expanded, year-round café features a large pizza oven that will help feed visitors and school groups that cycle in throughout the year.
- And the whole thing is wired up to broadcast and archive even the most obscure sub-committee meetings — a step long sought by government transparency activists.
What they're saying: "I feel like saying 'Hallelujah!'" Senate clerk Susan Clarke Schaar said last week during a media tour, per the Virginia Mercury.
Catch up fast: Demolition of the old General Assembly building on the site began seven years ago.
- The old building was actually a mashup of three distinct structures combined in a 1970s renovation, which officials deemed too unsightly and asbestos-riddled to save — though a 1912 facade is preserved in the new structure.
What's next: The first committee meetings in the new building are scheduled to begin Monday.
- Construction of a 600-foot-long tunnel that will connect the building to the Capitol is ongoing but expected to be completed by the end of the year, per the Times-Dispatch.