By Doug Belden

St. Paul Pioneer Press

St. PAUL — Disagreements over how to divide up space in the renovated state Capitol led to a weeklong delay in the project Wednesday that could prove costly if it extends further.

The Capitol Preservation Commission agreed to meet again next Thursday after members were told a dispute between Gov. Mark Dayton, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and House Speaker Kurt Daudt would prevent the board from authorizing the final phase of the $273 million project on Wednesday.

The costs of delay would be around $680,000 per month, said Matt Massman, commissioner of the state Department of Administration. And if contracts aren’t signed by the end of January, they would have to be re-bid, which could add additional costs.

Further, with an improving market for construction work, there’s a risk subcontractors could assign workers to other jobs.

But construction officials said waiting a week wouldn’t cause significant immediate impacts.

“I’ll give a 99 percent guarantee that we’ll have this project approved next Thursday,” Dayton said.

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party governor declined to specify the details of the space-allocation spat.

He said Chief Justice Lorie Gildea had signed off on the plans but that the four others required to approve — he, Bakk, Daudt, and Attorney General Lori Swanson — weren’t satisfied yet.

Dayton said he, Bakk and Daudt had met for four hours in recent days. Most of the issues have been agreed to, he said, but a couple remain.

“The crux of where we are right now” is the question of whether the restored Capitol — scheduled to be complete in 2017 — will belong to the people or to elected officials, Dayton said.

“My view is the public space is what’s most important, and the rest of us should fit in accordingly.”

Daudt, who didn’t attend Wednesday’s meeting, sounded a similar theme in a statement released later in the day. “My priority through this process is making sure the public has more space in their renovated State Capitol. I think we are very close to a final agreement,” he said.

Daudt, a Republican from Crown, put the hang-up on the Senate’s doorstep, saying that chamber’s negotiators were trying to claim too much turf.

Bakk, DFL-Cook, said the process was complicated when Republicans took over the House in November, putting Daudt in the position of having to approve a plan he hadn’t taken the lead in negotiating.

Another complication, Bakk said, is that the state is building a new office building for the Senate near the Capitol that won’t have room for all the hearing rooms the Senate needs, for example.

He also said some number of senators would likely have offices both in the new office building and the Capitol. Currently, senators in the majority party are housed in the Capitol.