WH Briefing Room Renovation Update
Knight-Ridder’s Ron Hutcheson, the president of the White House Correspondents Association (at least for ten more days), met this week with White House officials to discuss the planned renovation of the West Wing Briefing Room.
Hutcheson, who had previously expressed some wariness about whether the renovation was just a ploy to rid the West Wing of pesky reporters, told Fishbowl that at Tuesday’s meeting with Scott McClellan and renovation brainchild WH Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin he received “real good assurances [that] the project was focused on improving the space we have.”
The WHCA plans on distributing a questionaire to its membership over the coming days asking for their views on how to update the briefing room. While most members will probably ask for things like “Wifi” or “chairs that collapse” or “mice-free workspaces” we fully expect some smart aleck (i.e. someone from the LAT, although we won’t name names) to request “hot tubs,” “table and maid service,” and perhaps a “pool table” or “slots.”
Few other details are solid at this point–the renovation will likely happen in August when the press corps and the President are on “vacation” in Crawford, but it may not even happen this year depending on how quickly plans come together. In addition to the WHCA and the Bush administration, the White House Historical Association will also likely have to be involved in any plans.
We talked about the meeting yesterday with David Almacy, the White House’s new “Internet and E-Communications Director” and official spokesperson for internet press and–as the White House calls them–”bloggers,” who had few details on the substance of the meeting or the plans, but he said “If Ron thought it was a positive meeting, we’re certainly not going to refute that.”
Hutcheson’s full letter to the Correspondents’ Association, out this afternoon, follows after the jump.
Dear Colleagues,
We want to share with you what we know about administration plans to remodel the White House press area.
First, Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin has offered his assurances that we will continue to have the same space we use today. The idea is to improve the existing space, not shrink it or move us out. He also made it clear in a meeting on Tuesday that the press corps will have a lot of influence in the timing and the scope of the work.
Mark Smith of A.P. Radio, president-elect at the [White House Correspondents' Association], will be taking the lead on this for the association. He intends to distribute a questionnaire within the next few days to solicit your ideas on how to proceed. He will also appoint committees to oversee aspects of the job. All media will be represented. Our goal is to make this process as transparent as possible. We want everyone to have a chance to offer his or her views.
Hagin would like to start work in July and finish in three months. We told him we are not sure that timetable is realistic, but we withheld judgment on that for now. He said he is not wedded to the idea of doing it this summer. This is still in the very preliminary stage. We have no cost estimates or anything close to a design. We have asked the White House to come up with some preliminary workspace suggestions and cost estimates that we can share with the entire press corps as soon as we get them. We’re not sure when that will be.
Here’s what we know at this point:
* This would be a substantial upgrade of the briefing room and the workspaces, both upstairs and down. We anticipate better storage space, better briefing room seats and better work areas, plus new heating/air conditioning and lighting. The White House also wants to look at WiFi service and other technical improvements that could help print and broadcast reporters, as well as photographers. Hagin said he would explore the possibility of using the pool area beneath the briefing room for storage. He also agreed to look into a new storage shed near the stakeout site. The old one was removed.
* GSA would have prime responsibility (and bear the cost) for everything outside the television, radio and wire service booths. Booth inhabitants would be encouraged to update as the rest of the place is modernized, but that is up to them. The expenses for individual workspaces would be the responsibility of individual news organizations.
* The proposed July start date is intended to take advantage of the July 4 break and the August break to minimize the disruption for us. During construction, we would relocate to the White House conference center on Jackson Place. Our facilities there would probably be an upgraded version of a White House travel filing center (including the presence of some press office staff). McClellan would brief at the conference center. A daily pool would be on duty at the West Wing, in the (temporarily vacant) lower press office.
* The construction work would be a “warehouse project” that would not start until all of the construction material was in hand. That way the project would not stall while waiting for deliveries.
It may not be possible to pull this off this year. But if we do it right, we could end up with a much nicer work area at the White House. We’ll need your advice and help as this moves forward.
Thanks,
Ron Hutcheson
President, WHCA
Mark Smith
President-elect, WHCA
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