Editorial: History warns of big risk

Monday, July 22, 2002 | 8:42 a.m.

Given the recent history of governmental building projects, it's little wonder that the state Public Works Board has begun worrying aloud about the plans to get two buildings ready for the new University of Nevada, Las Vegas, dental school and a separate, biological science program. The university bought three buildings on Charleston Boulevard that formerly belonged to Employers Insurance Co. of Nevada and has a $6.3 million budget for extensive remodeling and repairs at two of them. One of the buildings will house the dental school, projected to open Sept. 1, 2003.

But with the exception of the D Gates at McCarran International Airport, we're hard pressed to remember a recent government building project that opened on time and on budget. The veterans nursing home in Boulder City, for example, opened last month -- two years late and a million dollars over budget. The project to expand the Clark County Detention Center and build the Regional Justice Center is more than a year behind schedule and $33 million over budget. UNLV's Lied Library opened in January, a year late, over budget by $6.5 million and plagued with construction defects. The granddaddy of them all, the Hoover Dam visitor center, finally opened in 1995 after 10 years of construction and $90 million above its original federal budget.

History shows that governmental building projects need a generous contingency budget and tolerant public officials to get completed. But that's a dream in today's economy. State government officials, faced with an immediate $250 million deficit that appears likely to balloon over the next decade, are fighting for every penny and looking for every possible cut to the budget. Dan O'Brien, manager of the Public Works Board, said last week there is no additional money available if there are cost overruns in rehabilitating the two buildings. Included in the rehabilitations will be asbestos removal, roof repairs, and massive interior remodeling -- projects that practically scream "cost overrun." The architectural firm hired to design the rehabilitations told the board the budget was unrealistic. It promised to try to fine-tune the project to make it work.

We think it might be better to renovate just the dental school building, or hold off altogether on the project until an adequate contingency budget is secured. The project as it stands is almost certain to run into cost overruns at a time when the bailout well is dry.