Science Museum to seek state funds for repairs on 15-year-old building

The Science Museum of Minnesota needs $26 million to repair and replace parts of its 15-year-old building.

Museum officials say a design flaw has caused significant water damage to the building and unless the problem is fixed the building will see more damage. To repair it, they plan to ask state officials for half of the expected cost.

But some worry that the size of the request could force out other city projects when state lawmakers write a public works bill next year.

The museum's problem is inside its walls, said Senior Vice President Mike Day, who recently climbed metal stairs to the roof to note how water was entering the structure.

"You stand here on the roof of the Science Museum looking up at this giant wall with metal panels that surround the Omnitheater and you don't see anything," Day said. "But as soon as you take those metal panels off and then take the tar paper off, you see that the sheathing has started to crumble."

That has allowed water to enter the building, Day said. It is safe for visitors, but the museum needs $13 million in state money to repair the building, built in 1999 for $99 million.

"There's an urgency to it," he said. "We don't want that urgency to at some point turn into an emergency, which could certainly happen if we let this go for too many years."

Museum personnel noticed some minor leaks in the building after it first opened. But Day said contractors assured them the problems were fixed.

By 2012, the museum decided to hire an engineer to assess the building. In 2014, the Science Museum filed a lawsuit against the contractors and a company called AECOM, which acquired the architecture firm that designed the museum.

In April, a judge dismissed it because it was filed too long after the building opened.

State Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, said the Science Museum should receive $13 million in funding because it is important to the education system. She cites the state's focus on teaching students about science, technology, engineering and math.

"There's a huge understanding about the importance about educating our young people and they don't just learn in books," Hausman said.

But the Science Museum request is competing with a long list of other St. Paul projects. Tonya Tennessen, a spokesperson for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, said the reconstruction of the Kellogg Avenue bridge, a learning center on the Mississippi River, a renovation of the Como Zoo's seal exhibit and a Tipi Center at the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary continue to be the city's top priorities for state funding.

"Our top bonding priorities from this last session weren't acted upon, weren't advanced," Tennessen said. "So we're continuing those as our top priorities for this next legislative session — the top one being the Kellogg Avenue/3rd Street bridge.

"That being said, we absolutely support the Science Museum as we do a series of other projects."

State Rep. Paul Torkelson, chair of the House Capital Investment Committee, said he's willing to consider the museum's request in the next public works bill, but he isn't making any promises. The state spent $30 million in 1996 to help build the museum and Torkelson said he's dismayed to hear the building has problems just 15 years after it opened.

"Somebody dropped the ball somewhere along the line," said Torkelson, R-Hanska. "I realize that there may not be any way to get compensation from those that did, but a building of that size and expense should hold up better in Minnesota's climate than this building has held up."

State Rep. John Lesch, DFL-of St. Paul, said he thinks AECOM should pay to fix the building that it designed. If not, Lesch said the state should rethink hiring AECOM for future projects.

"Our constituents expect us to be responsible [about] who we are going to pick for responsible contractors," Lesch said.

AECOM has done other design and engineering work in Minnesota, including the Central Corridor line between St. Paul and Minneapolis and the proposed Southwest light rail line between Eden Prairie and Minneapolis.

An official for AECOM declined an interview request but in a statement said the company is pleased with the judge's decision to dismiss the case filed by the Science Museum.