State leaders defend steep cost for executive mansion repairs, but won't provide detailed accounting

State officials are defending the steep price tag – about $2.5 million since 2017 – for repairs at the governor's mansion. But they're not supplying detailed information about how the money was spent.

The 30,000-square-foot mansion first opened in 1891, and it's still in use today as a functioning state historic site, office space and meeting-and-event venue, in addition to housing the state's first family on its second floor. Thousands of visitors walk through its doors in an average year.

However, years of tight state budgets left some needed structural repairs deferred. Some had to be completed before the current governor, Roy Cooper, could even take up residence when his tenure began in 2017, delaying his family's move-in date.

Mark Edwards is Deputy Secretary of the Department of Administration, the agency that maintains all state-owned buildings. He says the building needed extensive life-safety and structural work.

"For several months, we had to close all the exterior porches because they were unsafe for people to walk on," Edwards said. "We had crews that had to go through and actually replace all the decking on the porches, as well as some of the support beams on the roofs over those porches."

Edwards said the building had water damage in the basement and walls. It needed foundation repair, waterproofing and brick restoration, as well as repairs to its 50-year-old plumbing, some of which is encased in walls a foot thick.

"We've had to do work on the roofs," he said. "We've had to do the work on the windows. We've had to replace the chiller. We've had to do other HVAC work, and also on the fire alert and fire suppression system, just to name a few."

He said the security system was also upgraded, along with security systems at all other downtown state-owned buildings.

Part of the cost is due to the 130-year-old mansion's status as a state historic site. It's been on the national historic building registry since the 1970's, Edwards said, so everything has to be restored to its very ornate original condition, requiring specialized carpentry and other rehabilitation work.

He said the work was done in consultation with the mansion's historical commission and the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the agency that oversees historical buildings and sites for the state.

The $2.5 million was appropriated over the years through the state budget.

The North State Journal previously reported on the expenditures.

When WRAL News asked for a detailed accounting of the costs, Edwards declined to provide one. He said everything that was done was necessary, and went through the procurement process required by state law.

"Because of these special security measures of this building in particular, we don't break those down by line item," Edwards said.

"Not a single dime was spent to add creature comforts or cosmetic changes for the first family," he added. "Governor Cooper has been very clear that he believes this is the People's House, and that he wants to maintain it to the standards that will make people proud."

WRAL News asked the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources about the price tag. Spokesman Schorr Johnson noted that a historic house in Halifax County currently has a restoration budget of $6.3 million.

"These expenditures are in line with repairs and renovations for other historic sites," Johnson told WRAL. "When you get into renovations of historic sites, they’re costly."