THE construction of the CNMI economic resiliency center on Capital Hill is expected to cost $14 million, Secretary of Finance David DLG Atalig said.
The project received a $19.6 million competitive grant award from the U.S. Department of Commerce–Economic Development Administration, one of the largest economic development grant awards to a state or territory in EDA history.
Of the amount, $5.6 million will go toward the technology and security of the data center.
The center is expected to consolidate all Department of Finance offices in one building, other than the Division of Customs Services, which will remain at the ports.
“It will also bring a lot of business-related agencies to be housed in one building so that it can be a ‘one-stop shop,’ so to speak, a ‘business one-stop shop.’ If any business wants to pay their taxes, open a new business, we’ll have the Department of Commerce there, the Department of Labor representative in the building to help assist… So, that’s exciting,” Atalig said.
He also said the center will be built near the Capital Hill softball field, the Homeland Security and Procurement buildings.
“We just finished our [request for proposals] for an [architecture and engineering] firm. The [proposals] are going to be evaluated in the next week or two. Hopefully we get an A&E firm signed [on] so that they can start designing the building,” he said.
Atalig said the building will be about 36,000 to 40,000 square feet, possibly four stories high, fully concrete, with all resilient mechanisms, such as a backup water tank and backup power source that will fully secure the data center and get it up and running to do government business in case of a disaster.
The Department of Finance is temporarily located at the Horiguchi Building in Garapan.
According to the Torres-Palacios administration, this project is funded by the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019 or U.S. P.L. 116-20, which provided EDA with $600 million in additional Economic Adjustment Assistance Program funds for disaster relief and recovery for areas affected by Hurricanes Florence, Michael, and Lane, Typhoons Yutu and Mangkhut, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and other major natural disasters occurring in calendar year 2018, and tornadoes and floods occurring in calendar year 2019, under the Robert T. Stafford Act.
For more information, visit the EDA Disaster Supplemental website at https://eda.gov/disaster-recovery/supplemental
