(Radio Iowa) – The State of Iowa is using 21 million dollars in pandemic relief money to buy a fully furnished office building and move all 540 employees out of the Wallace State Office Building that sits across from the state capitol. The 45 year old Wallace State Office Building has windows on its southern facade that reflect the image of the Capitol Building, but the Wallace Building has been in dire condition for decades. The windows leak. The roof is in rough shape. The parking garage has been closed for years due to falling chunks of concrete.

The heating and ventilating system is out of whack and some employees have said they suffer from “sick building syndrome.” The state Executive Council has approved buying a two-story office building on the west side of Des Moines. Staff from the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing who’ve been working in the Wallace Building are moving into that facility.

Iowa Department of Agriculture employees in the Wallace Building will move into the Hoover State Office Building a few blocks away. It will be up to legislators to decide what’s done with the decrepit Wallace Building. A report presented to the state Executive Council indicates demolition costs could be recouped by selling the corner lot in downtown Des Moines where the Wallace Building now sits.