Plan to renovate New Jersey statehouse gets underway

Gov. Chris Christie’s plan for four-year $300 million renovation of New Jersey’s statehouse has gotten underway.

Treasurer Ford Scudder announced Friday that the governor’s office and state department employees who work in the statehouse will be moving to a state building down the street in the capital.

Christie announced the major renovations to the deteriorating 18th-century building in November. Already workers have begun boarding up windows with sheets of plywood around the building.

Christie says the building is a “fire trap” that has not been significantly updated in six decades.

Among the problems with the building include: part of it is in danger of sinking into the ground and crushing computer servers. Paint is cracking off exterior walls, and flammable materials have been found in the attic.