Iowa’s historic, state-owned property must be repaired according the co-chair of a committee reviewing government buildings. The Governor appointed a committee and gave its members five years to straighten out the way state government prioritizes building maintenance and repair. Sue Mullins of Corwith — co-chair of the Iowa Vertical Infrastructure Advisory Committee — says her panel’s job is to get rid of the backlog of fix-up projects. Mullis’ committee has come up with a list of priorities, and state agencies are now supposed to assemble their fix-up projects in that order, putting fire and safety projects at the top. She says some of the mental health institutions and some of the prisons are architecturally and historically “incredible.”Mullins hopes her committee takes the politics out of decisions about repairing state-owned buildings. She says it should be easier for legislators as the committee provides some “cover” for making the decisions on the buildings.The Infrastructure Committee toured the Glenwood Hospital-School, the Clarinda Mental Health Institute and the Clarinda Prison yesterday. A report issued last year found state buildings needed nearly half-a-Billion dollars worth of repairs.
