Modular building on west Capitol Campus almost ready for Newhouse staff

OLYMPIA — There’s a new building on the Capitol Campus that went up almost overnight.

The two-story modular building was assembled last weekend to serve legislators and their staff who will be displaced by the multi-year Legislative Campus Modernization project, according to the Washington state Department of Enterprise Services.

Sixteen modules were delivered to the Governor’s Mansion parking lot and a 150-foot-tall crane was used to assemble the building modules on the southeast corner of the existing Governor’s Mansion parking lot.

The work is part of the Legislative Campus Modernization project to address space needs of legislative agencies and critical issues with the Irving R. Newhouse, Joel M. Pritchard and John L. O’Brien buildings. The project is expected to take place over the next six to seven years.

In this step, legislators and staff who have been housed in the Newhouse building will be moved to the modular building in December, before the 2023 Legislative session begins in January.

Demolition work on the Newhouse building is slated for 2023. Newhouse staff will move into a newly constructed building once it is complete.

Other staff and legislators who are displaced from their offices as building projects around campus continue also will use the Legislative Modular Building temporarily. The modular building is expected to be on campus for up to eight years as campus projects are completed.