OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The east tunnel entrance to the state Capitol was closed at the weekend after heavy weekend rains made it smell damp and musty, building officials announced Monday.
It’s common for rainwater to seep into the 680-foot long tunnel, but that problem was exacerbated when a belt broke on a large fan that keeps air flowing through the underground space, said John Estus, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
The belt has been replaced, but Estus said the musty smell was too much for a security guard to maintain his post for the entire day. He said the tunnel should be reopened “sometime this week.”
The pedestrian tunnel runs beneath Lincoln Boulevard and connects the east parking lot to the Capitol’s basement. It is commonly used by schoolchildren transported on buses directed to park in the east lot.
The Oklahoma Legislature this year approved a $120 million bond issue to fund repairs at the state Capitol, and bonds can be sold after the bill takes effect on July 1. Estus said a top priority for the project will include a major overhaul of the nearly 100-year-old building’s basement. Some of the original cast-iron pipes have rotted, and effluent has been leaking into the subsoil for years, he said.
“You can imagine what it’s going to smell like when we dig up that basement,” Estus said. “It’s going to have to be sealed off.
“It’s probably going to have to be emptied, excavated and rebuilt.”
The building’s crumbling exterior facade is the most pressing priority for the construction process and is specifically exempted from some of the more rigid planning requirements that will apply to the rest of the overhaul. A bipartisan panel will be created to oversee the project and will include appointees from the governor, House speaker and Senate president pro tem.
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