Sawyer Building losing outer tiles

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003 | 11:26 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Tiles are falling off the exterior of the 7-year-old Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas, and it will cost at least $316,346 to fix the problem, a state official said Tuesday.

It's just one of the many state building maintenance projects for which $29 million is needed, Dan O'Brien, the state Public Works Board manager, told Senate and Assembly budget committees while outlining his proposed $241.6 million two-year state building program. At the Sawyer Building, "tiles are popping off," he said, adding that the architect or the construction firm that built the structure may be to blame.

The state will make an attempt to get money to repair it from the architects or construction companies. If that is unsuccessful, he said, a construction defects lawsuit would probably be filed.

The falling tiles do not threaten public safety because they are in the back of the building and not above the main entryway, O'Brien said.

"The sky is not falling in," O'Brien said.

It's not the first problem with the building, however. The building previously underwent mold cleanups after toxic mold spores were found in ceilings and walls. The mold was blamed on heating valve leaks and a dripping pipe.

Since April 2001 Nevada has spent more than $225,000 on mold investigation and abatement. In late November the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee authorized an additional $250,000 for indoor air quality investigations.

Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposed 2003-05 budget sets aside $764,000 to combat mold, asbestos and lead problems in state buildings.

O'Brien said Tuesday that there are significant mold problems in several state buildings. Mold crept in as a result of water intrusion at the buildings, he said.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, told O'Brien it was "essential" to address the mold problems immediately.

Some state workers have complained that the presence of mold made them sick, and trials are pending for mold lawsuits that have been filed against the state.

In the meantime, lawyers for the state will be busy with two other construction lawsuits that O'Brien said he hopes to see resolved by 2005. Those two cases involve the Lied Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the Veterans Nursing Home in Boulder City. The firms that were initially hired for the projects did not complete them on time and there were cost overruns, officials said.

Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, complained Tuesday that the construction projects by the state never seem to get completed.

Arberry, chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, called it a "disheartening" problem.

He suggested that the Legislature withhold money until work on the present construction projects is completed.

O'Brien disagreed.

"Most agencies are satisfied with the work," he said.

The major state building projects proposed in Southern Nevada for the next two years are a 150-bed psychiatric hospital to cost $32.2 million; a $9.4 million new building in North Las Vegas for the Department of Motor Vehicles; a $60 million science, engineering and technology complex at UNLV; and a $20 million health science building at the West Charleston campus of the Community College of Southern Nevada.