California Capitol Annex Project FAQs

April 2021 FAQ
Capitol Annex Project Update FAQ

Why is it important to re-build the California State Capitol Annex?

• Extensive security and life safety hazards exist. Additionally, the risk of loss of life after an earthquake or fire is exacerbated by overcrowding in exit paths and stairwells that are too narrow and few.
• Built to 1949 building codes, the 70-year-old Annex does not reflect modern earthquake designs or a sprinkler system, which is problematic for a building with two (2) million visitors each year, including children, advocates, and others.
• Difficult wayfinding and non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards creates an environment of poor public access in our People’s House.

How will the new California State Capitol Annex address security and life safety hazard concerns?

• The new Annex will have sprinklers throughout, larger stairwells, fewer bottlenecks in the public corridors, and have a greater number of exits that are easier to locate as it incorporates modern, post 9/11 security infrastructure.

How will the Annex Project impact the economy and create jobs?

• According to the Economic Policy Institute, for every 100 people hired on a construction project, 226 total indirect jobs are created. For every $1 spent, an average of more than $3 are contributed to the economy.

What will be done to preserve Capitol Park?

• The Annex Project aims to safeguard the experience of Capitol Park, as it has been enjoyed for generations. Roadways which have blocked east to west foot traffic through the Park since the 1950s will be removed, permitting barrier-free enjoyment for walking throughout the Park. New pathways will be integrated for improved accessibility to Capitol Park for all.
• This top priority of the Annex Project is outlined in the California State Capitol Annex Project Planning Study from December 2017, which can be found at https://annex.assembly.ca.gov/.
• The Joint Rules Committee is actively working with arborists and landscaping experts to preserve as many trees as possible within and nearby the Annex Project footprint.

Will this Project eliminate 100 or more trees in Capitol Park?

• No. Many of the Park’s most prominent and distinctive trees will be protected in place – like the Civil War Grove, Moon Tree, Tulip Tree, Deodar Cedars, Bora Bora Tree, Cockspur Coral Tree and the Bunya Bunya Tree. The historic Pioneer Camellia Grove, which includes varieties that are no longer commercially available, and which is important given Sacramento’s reputation as Camellia City, will also be safeguarded.

Are we able to repair the existing California State Capitol Annex building?

• The almost 70-year-old Annex building incorporates a design that cannot eliminate the ADA problems of floors that do not match, undersized stairwells and elevators, cramped corridors, and confused wayfinding. Any effort to rebuild the 1952 Annex building to modern seismic standards and to rebuild the current inefficient floor plans will be costly and would reduce available floor space as a consequence of seismic strengthening. This is costly, compounds overcrowding, cannot accommodate modern ADA standards, and increases public safety issues due to overcrowding

According to the Budget information released from the Governor’s Office, the Annex Project will now move forward under lease revenue bonds. Is this the intended path?

• The State has higher priorities for cash funds at this time so the amount alluded to is the Annex Project appropriation. The project will proceed using the statutorily authorized lease revenue bond approach.

Was there a plan for the project specifically amid a recession?

• Yes. Government Code Section 9112.5 allows funding via lease revenue bonds as an alternative method to finance the project amid a recession when the state would rightly have higher priorities for available cash. The pressing need to address the life safety issues of the current Annex, recognized by the last 3 Governors – stairways and elevators too small for the nearly 2 million people who enter each year, no sprinklers atop a basement filled with 150 cars with fuel, lack of ADA compliant facilities – remain and the Covid-19 pandemic has made many of these even more problematic.

How does the building of a new Capitol fit into the needs of Californians during a recession?

• Public works projects have historically been a vital piece to economic recovery. This project’s commitment of public funds is an aspect of California’s state government supporting safe public access and participation by and for all. Additionally, in this moment, its construction dollars will help to keep many businesses viable and wage dollars in the pockets of Californians so that they can help reinvigorate our local and state economies.

Why is it important to re-build the Capitol?

• The Annex Project, addresses fundamental ills of the Capitol, and its lack of ADA access and associated problems first identified under Governor Schwarzenegger. The ills of the Annex, made all the more glaring by the COVID pandemic, remain. Built in 1952—before ADA standards and modern security needs—the Capitol Annex houses the Governor, 115 of California's 120 lawmakers, and is among the state's most-visited public buildings. In 2016, its almost 2 million visitors included tens of thousands of school children

What are the deficiencies in the current building?

• The existing building has substantial health, life safety and welfare deficiencies. The safety of all guests is dependent on undersized stair and exit widths, limited available doors for egress, no fire sprinklers and cramped elevators which lack ADA-compliant controls and safety features.
  
  The building’s other deficiencies include regular overcrowding (of particular concern during this COVID pandemic), inefficient and obsolescent HVAC (mechanical) and electrical/data systems, failing toilet and plumbing systems, and areas that are non-compliant with California’s Title 24 accessibility standards.

Why can’t we repair the existing building?

• Built before ADA standards, the Annex’s existing systems are failing and are costly, difficult to repair, and fail to provide the public with a safe and accessible venue to engage with their government. The mismatched floors and existing column structure make it difficult to expand and improve the building with bigger public spaces, updated and ADA-welcoming bathroom facilities The Annex Project has emerged from consideration of these perils by 3 administrations, and it will specifically address these vital health, life safety, accessibility and security deficiencies.

What will be done to preserve Capitol Park?

• The project aims to safeguard the experience of Capitol Park much as it has been enjoyed for generations, a place to wander and feel welcome on its expansive grounds, to assemble to exercise cherished rights, and a place to enjoy from every angle view to the dome.
  
  This top priority of the Project is outlined in the California State Capitol Annex Project Planning Study from December 2017:

“The park serves as an important gathering place and event venue. Great care must be taken
during the Capitol Annex project to minimize the impact on the historic capitol grounds.
Strategic design can help to minimize impact on important trees located directly adjacent to the
building. Views to the north, south, and west facades of the Historic Capitol must be maintained,
as well as views to the dome from all sides. Any structures constructed or added to the east side
of the Historic Capitol must be subservient to the Historic Capitol to maintain views to the
dome.”

What steps have been taken to preserve the Park and trees?

• The Joint Rules Committee actively works with arborists and landscaping experts to preserve as many trees as possible within and nearby the Project footprint.
  
  Respect for the park and its history prompted the Joint Rules Chair to intervene in January 2017 after a storm downed two very large Civil War Grove trees (planted in 1897 and 1902), arranging instead to haul them offsite for drying so this wood, with its ties to the Civil War, may be returned to the people of 3 California and used in the Annex Project.₁

Will this project affect over 100 trees?

• No. The rich abundance of Capitol Park means that in the full area (from 10th to 12th and from N to L, where the project will be undertaken, that many trees can be found. The environmental impact report (EIR) identified this full space as the area within which the project elements would reside. The JRC has no intention of using the entirety of this area nor removing 100 trees within this footprint.
  
  The concerns about the number of trees impacted appear to be based upon the unfortunate assumption that the entire area as shown in the EIR will be the actual footprint used for the project, which is not correct.

Why can’t the Legislature stay in the swing space at 10th and O Streets?

• The basic issue of the current Annex Building’s lack of ADA compliance, overcrowded hallways, non-ADA compliant bathrooms, and the failure of floors to match up even on the 1st floor as guests enter the building are problematic in a building that is “the People’s House”.
  
  The immediate proximity of the West Wing and lawmakers’ Annex offices supports efficiency in lawmaking that would be lost if offices and hearing spaces were permanently separated by two blocks in separate facilities with separate secured entries. The current compact proximity of key functions and offices in one building both enables the efficient conduct of the public’s business and facilitates the public’s access to the offices and hearing rooms and Chambers where those decisions are being debated and made. To separate these functions and spread them across buildings apart would very much change the character of democracy in California.

What will the 10th and O Street building be utilized for after the Legislature returns to the Capitol?

• The State of California plans to use the swing space building long-term to house state employees as a great many deteriorating state buildings may be renovated.

When will the Legislature move?

• The Project is on schedule and the Legislature will move into the 10th and O St building in the Fall of 2021.