国际新闻：UN headquarters due for first-ever overhaul

The aging United Nations headquarters overlooking New York's East River is set to undergo a US$1 billion makeover, the first-ever overhaul of the landmarked but leaking complex overlooking the East River.

Alicia Barcena, UN undersecretary general for management, said the seven-year project will be conducted in three phases, with about 1,000 workers temporarily relocated to buildings in Manhattan and Queens during each phase. Work will begin in early 2008.

For two years -- between 2009 and 2011 -- the General Assembly will be housed a block away from headquarters on East 46th Street. The UN Secretary-General will remain at headquarters but in temporary quarters. About 4,000 people work at the UN headquarters, which includes three buildings.

"The signing of this agreement is a major step in making the UN headquarters a safer, healthier and more energy-efficient place for all of us who work here," Barcena said at a news conference Friday. "It will make it safer for hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit every year."

A Swedish-owned construction firm, Skanska AB, won a competitive bid to conduct the preconstruction phase of the project, Barcena said.

"We are currently negotiating with Skanska, and if we agree on pricing, they will probably become the construction management company on the project," said Werner Schmidt, a UN spokesman.

Barcena was accompanied at the news conference by Michael Alderstein, who will oversee the entire renovation.

Alderstein, an architect, managed the renovation of the Taj Mahal, Ellis Island and the New York Botanical Garden.

"It's the United Nations," Alderstein said when asked why he would want to head such a daunting project. "It's the most difficult project, in my view, in the world," Alderstein said.

Built in 1950, the landmark UN Secretariat building and its neighboring Conference and General Assembly buildings, built in 1951 and 1952, are packed with toxic asbestos, have leaking roofs and erratic heating and cooling systems and lack fire sprinklers. The sprawling 39-story glass-and-steel complex has not seen a major overhaul since it was built.

The renovation involves a complete overhaul, covering six buildings with total floor space of 2.6 million square feet (240,000 square meters) on 17 acres (7 hectares).

One goal of the renovation is to make the buildings more energy efficient. The Secretariat building alone, where UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office is located, wastes as much as 25 percent of the heat pumped into it in the winter.

Skanska Chief Executive Stuart Graham said his company was "extremely honored to partner with the United Nations to help them create a modern and environmentally sound headquarters for its membership and staff."

Skanska, which has made a strong push into the US construction market in the past few years -- building the open-air stadium for the New York Jets and New York Giants in New Jersey -- said the project is its largest ever in the US and one of its top three worldwide.

Associated Press Writer By Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm contributed to this report.