The Tearing Down of the General Assembly Building


By: Jackson Aldridge

            This time next year, the General Assembly, or GAB, will have been completely torn down and construction on a new building will be underway. According to the Executive Director of the Virginia YMCA, Sharon Davies, the renovation of the GAB has been “long overdue.” The GAB itself is in poor condition and presents many safety and health concerns such as the presence of asbestos. There is overwhelming belief that the GAB is a “sick building” and that it needs to be modernized.
Delegate Rob Bloxom believes that another significant reason that the building needs to be torn down is because of a lack of space. According to Bloxom, the rooms that are used by subcommittees are extremely small. This is important because a large portion of the debate and discussion around bills happens in these subcommittees, but there is not enough space for a large group of people. Furthermore, because of this limited space, the public has less access and ability to be directly involved in their government. When the new GAB is built, it will be modernized and better equipped to accommodate large groups of people ready to be involved in their government.

The issue of a lack of space also begs the question of how this will affect MGA, or the Model General Assembly in the future. For MGA, students from all over Virginia come to the capitol while the delegates and senators are out of session, and simulate what the legislative process is like in Virginia. Despite MGA students using the GAB for committee meetings and reporter meetings, only 3 in 10 students know that the building is being torn down.  Much like when renovations were being done to the capitol and the delegates and senators had to move location to the Patrick Henry building, MGA will have to find space. According to Sharon Davies, possible locations that MGA will use for space are the Patrick Henry Building and the Pocahontas building. MGA coordinators will be in conversation with the house and senate clerk staff to find space for everyone in the coming years of MGA. The renovation project is set to begin after the veto session on April 5 and is expected to run through the year 2021. 

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