Waste of the Day: Safety Compromised in Federal Court Building

Topline: Many Congressmembers opposed the General Services Administration’s renovation of the Poff Federal Building in Roanoke, Virginia when it began in 2010. A $51 million price estimate seemed excessive for an office building that cost only $14 million to build in the first place.

A Federal building becomes less safe for a nine-figure renovation

When the project was completed in 2014 at a final cost of $80 million, it had run through “a mix of mind-bogglingly bad (and allegedly illegal) bid management, cost overruns and all-around poor planning,” according to The Roanoker magazine. 

Federal workers told Congress the construction had not improved their working conditions and had actually made the building less safe, even after spending what’s the equivalent of $106.4 million in 2024 dollars.

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Key facts: The 14-story Poff Federal Building, built in 1972, houses office space for the General Services Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs, law enforcement space for the U.S. Marshals and courtrooms for a federal district court.

Both Democrats and Republicans criticized the GSA’s plan to renovate the space. 

Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb were unhappy that 400 VA employees would need to be temporarily relocated while the department was already backlogged with work. 

Rep. Bob Goodlatte claimed the GSA was “whitewashing” the numbers: the project was found to be profitable only after he declared it a “boondoggle.”

“It’s a slap in the face of the taxpayers,” Goodlatte told The Roanoker.

It didn’t take long for fiscal problems to arise, resulting in a Congressional hearing in 2011.

Lack of oversight

Jennifer Smith, representing the U.S. district court, told Congress the GSA only visited the building once per month for oversight of the hired construction companies. She said that led to unsafe working conditions and employees spying on government staff to steal security codes.

Collapsing bricks and flooding during construction meant another $15 million was needed. Smith said the GSA knew the water infrastructure was faulty but prioritized repainting bathrooms instead.

When construction ended in 2014, Judge Glen Conrad told The Roanoker his courtroom was less safe than it was before. 

The bulletproof door to his chamber had been replaced by glass. Security cameras were blocked by new walls. The jury’s chamber was next to a lobby filled with witnesses and others who might wish them harm.

Critical quote: “For me, the most bothersome and disturbing reality is that five years from the announcement of the Poff Stimulus Project, and after expenditure of millions of dollars, the user functionality in the court portion of the building has not been enhanced whatsoever, in any way, shape, or form,” Judge Conrad said.

Summary: With billions of dollars in needed repairs in other buildings, the federal government has no resources to waste on unnecessary construction.

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This article was originally published by RCI and made available via RealClearWire.