After more than 25 years, the Guam Legislature Building will reopen at 10 a.m. today, Dec. 22 with a ceremony to celebrate its new renovations.
The renovations were realized through collaboration with the Guam Legislature, Bank of Guam, and Guam Preservation Trust. Senator Rory Respicio has said that he is “very proud of [his] legislative record, especially having chaired the Committee on Rules for the past eight years. [T]his legislature will be going back to the Guam Congress Building, a fully restored, energy-efficient building that will be completed without a single appropriation from the Government of Guam.” Speaker Won Pat added, “We were not given an opportunity to restore ‘just another old building’ in our community. We had the remarkable good fortune to have the means to restore an extraordinary monument. And we have a second chance to embrace and celebrate a significant period in our history.”
The building has been renovated with modern, eco-friendly features including power-saving LED lights with motion sensors that illuminate parts of the building, sensing areas where people are present. Other power-saving methods include solar panels that provide approximately one-fifth of its energy, new air-conditioning systems that use minimal power, and recycled collected rain water and water dripping from the air-conditioning system for toilet flushing.
The opening ceremony is open to the public. (The Times News Staff)