Costs of City Hall repair rises — again

For the second time in a year, the estimated cost of City Hall’s rehabilitation has increased by millions. According to the New York Post, Mayor Michael Bloomberg allocated an additional $25 million to the repair after workers said the cost would rise to nearly $150 million because of unforeseen structural damage. The previous $123.8 million estimate was already double what the city had once expected the renovations would cost.

The newly-discovered damage stems from the roof deck of the rotunda, where failing concrete was crumbling and mesh wire supporting it was corroding. The work likely won’t be complete until the end of Bloomberg’s administration in December 2013. However, the Post said if the city held off on the repairs the costs would only rise further, and the burden of budgeting for City Hall repairs would fall on the city’s next mayor.

“We have a responsibility to leave the building safe and secure,” one official told the Post. “You don’t know what you’re going to find until you go in there.”

The cost of the entire project was originally estimated to be $60 million in 2007. [Post]