Governor wants to tear down unsafe building near the Capitol

Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005 | 7:56 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn plans to seek $3.6 million to move about 350 employees and tear down a state office building considered unsafe, just two blocks from the Capitol.

The Guinn administration will ask the Legislative Interim Finance Committee on Nov. 9 to dig into the emergency fund to lease private office space in Carson City and demolish the Kinkead Building.

State Budget Director Perry Comeaux said five plans have been drawn up for the committee to consider, but the governor favors one that would allow relocation of the employees, most of whom work for the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Department Director Mike Willden said reports have indicated the building could collapse in a moderate to strong earthquake. When a small shake shook the building this summer, many employees "were really rattled," said Willden, whose office is on the top floor of the six-story building.

"We would like to get out of here," he said.

The plan, according to Comeaux, calls for slightly more than $2 million to move the employees and furniture and set up a new headquarters in two buildings in northeast Carson City that formerly housed Harley-Davidson.

Another $1.6 million would be used to tear down the building. And the 2007 Legislature would be asked for money for a new building for the agency.

There presently is $10 million available in the state's "Rainy Day" fund.

Scott MacKenzie, executive director of the State of Nevada Employees Association, said the building poses a "real danger, not only for the employees but also for the public."

Under the plan, the staff of the state Division of Child and Family Services also would be moved out of cottages formerly used for the state Children's Home, abandoned more than 15 years ago. Those cottages are about two blocks south of the Kinkead Building.

Guinn initially set aside more than $20 million for a new building for the department, but the 2005 Legislature used that money for construction in the university system.

Cy Ryan can be reached at (775) 687-5032 or at cy@lasvegassun.com.