Renovation Plan Proposed for UN Building
By Edith M. Lederer
AP
October 19, 2007
Original Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h2YWkztyrsditiUsGbY-ts0bRArQD8SCMB800

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday proposed an accelerated plan to renovate the U.N.'s headquarters overlooking New York's East River that would complete the overhaul by 2013.
The proposal, in a report to the U.N. General Assembly, calls for the 39-story glass-and-steel Secretariat building to be completely emptied. The current plan calls for the renovations to be carried out several floors at a time, from top to bottom, and for the overhaul to be completed by mid-2016.
In December, the General Assembly finally gave a green light to start renovating the U.N. headquarters complex, which has not had a major overhaul in its 55-year existence and now violates safety and fire codes.
A report in July from the U.N. Board of Auditors said the $1.9 billion renovation project is at least $148 million over budget — before any work on the landmark building has begun.
In Friday's report, Ban endorsed the accelerated strategy and said he will ensure that the overall project stricks to the $1.9 billion budget. He asked the General Assembly to appropriate $652 million for 2008 and $341 million for 2009 for the project.
Under the accelerated plan, the Secretariat building would be renovated in 3 years instead of 6 years starting in early 2009 and the General Assembly building in 2 years instead of 2 1/2 years starting in mid-2011. The plan still calls for the construction of a temporary conference building on the U.N.'s north lawn in early 2008.
Ban said emptying the Secretariat building would mean almost 2,600 staff members would have to be moved elsewhere, instead of only 1,100. The U.N. has already leased some office space, but will need to find space for 1,500 additional staffers and is already looking in midtown and lower Manhattan, he said.