Delegation split on building purchase

WASILLA — State Sen. Linda Menard seems be getting progressively lonelier amongst her Valley colleagues on the issue of whether the state should buy an Anchorage building for use as office space.

The idea floated in a committee during the legislative off season was to buy what’s often referred to as the Unocal building on 9th Avenue in downtown across from the park strip and convert it into office space for Anchorage and visiting legislators.

A potential price tag for the building has been pegged at around $6.7 million. A press release announcing the letter says Menard’s Legislative Council voted 10-2 to put a bid on the building last week, if an Alaska Native corporation that already made an offer backs out.

But on Thursday, four Valley delegates signed a letter opposing the move.

“I really wanted the public to know that there’s a large number of us that really have problems with the purchase,” said one of the signatories, Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak, whose district also includes the Butte. “I’m just not on a vision quest for more space and more buildings.”

Menard wrote in a statement Saturday that she stands by the decision on the Unocal building.

“The Legislative Council and I have done a lot of work on this proposed building purchase. The numbers we’ve run show a long-term cost savings to the state by purchasing a building as opposed to leasing space in a building,” she says. “A sub-committee made up of members from both parties and bodies of the Legislature agreed on the parameters for a building that best suits the public need. More than 50 people toured the proposed building.”

Also signing the letter opposed to the plan were Reps. Eric Feige of Chugiak, Mark Neuman of Big Lake and Wes Keller of Wasilla, all Republicans. In fact, the only Valley delegates not to sign were Menard, Sen. Charlie Huggins (R-Wasilla) and Rep. Carl Gatto (R-Palmer). Stoltze said Huggins actually didn’t get the chance to sign — he’s been out of town.

“We write to you today as members of the Mat-Su Valley legislative delegation to continue expressing our concerns, in fact our opposition, to the planned purchase of the former Unocal building,” the letter states.

Stoltze said he thought the move would have been a bad business decision. The building is old and might have asbestos problems.

“The state being the deep pocket I just know that we get the short end of those things,” he said.

Also, it’s not something he thinks his constituents are clamoring for.

“I haven’t had a constituent come and tell me we need more space, you need to have more luxurious accommodations,” he said.

He thinks the council shouldn’t have limited itself to seeking office space only in downtown and thinks staff, rather than legislators, played too great a role in deciding to go ahead with the plan.

Finally, he’d like to see a building that has more in the way of meeting space to hold large gatherings.

“If we’re going to talk about a building in Anchorage, let’s talk about something that really suits the public, not that suits the Legislature,” Stoltze said.

In her statement, Menard says current office space in Anchorage is simply inadequate.

“While our current landlord has been leasing to the Legislature for many years, the building we reside in no longer meets the subcommittee’s recommendations for usable space and parking,” she says. “Even if there was a remodel, parking would still be insufficient. Wanting to be good stewards of the public money, we’ve left no stone un-turned in our due diligence. We stand by our decision.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.