Cleanup done at Inouye's office
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
After more than a year, the Honolulu office of U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye will move back to seventh-floor offices at the Prince Kuhio Federal Building after work was done to remove mold and replace the air-conditioning system.
Inouye's Honolulu Chief of Staff Jennifer Goto Sabas said the federal General Services Administration has completed the work and notified the office that staff members can move in early next week. Last year, the federal building complex had several problems with mold: in the childcare center, in Inouye's office and in the chambers of U.S. Magistrate Leslie Kobayashi.
Inouye noted that the office had been relocated to the fifth floor in October last year. "The cleanup task proved to be more difficult than originally projected," he said in a written statement.
Sabas said that the office will be closed Monday and will reopen Tuesday afternoon. The telephone, fax numbers and mailing address remain the same.
Originally, the GSA had estimated that the task would take about 60 days. But Sabas said the job ended up with the replacement of the air-conditioning system, pipes and ducts, the ceiling, and installation of new carpeting.
A spokeswoman for the GSA in San Francisco was unavailable yesterday to provide an update on the project. But earlier the agency estimated that it would cost about $10 million to replace the entire ventilation system at the 500,000-square-foot building. Sabas said she understood that the replacement of the air-conditioning was limited to their area and did not involve the entire building.
She said the temporary relocation was a minor inconvenience for constituents and staff members.
Sabas said most of the costs were covered by the GSA but the Senate paid for some furniture replacement.
A spokeswoman for Kobayashi's staff said they moved out of the judge's chambers in August 2002 and returned in September. The childcare center cleanup was completed last year at a cost of $33,000.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
