ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

The basement, which houses a high-voltage power supply, floods.

Ceiling tiles on the eighth floor are missing in spots. A few sheets of plastic protect workers from the asbestos above.

And there are no fire sprinklers in most of the 10-story, 54-year-old high-rise.

“There are buildings from ancient Rome that we can walk around today because there are enough resources to maintain them,� county public works Director Stephanie Leon Streeter said on Tuesday. “We haven’t had the resources to do the preventative maintenance.�

County Executive Sam Page wants to build a new headquarters, but he faces a stalemate at the County Council, which must approve any proposal that goes to the voters. On Tuesday, he organized a media tour of the facility, the Lawrence K. Roos building, to make his point: It needs to be replaced, and officials don’t have much time left to do it.

“This question has been put off for way too long,� Page said.

The county has outlined a few options, if voters agree to pay for a redo: Cleanup asbestos and install sprinklers, which are required by Clayton city code, for $175 million. Retrofit and lease another building for $476 million. Or build a new administration and police headquarters, plus a mid-county satellite office, for $562 million, according to estimates from the county’s contractor, WSP Global Inc.

The least expensive option would cost the owner of a $250,000 house about $18 per year in increased property taxes, and the most expensive about $69, Page said.

Council members are skeptical.

Republican Councilman Mark Harder of Ballwin doesn’t think Page’s office has offered enough detail or transparency, and wonders why the county isn’t considering buying an existing property, such as the Caleres building in Clayton.

Democrat Rita Heard Days of Bel-Nor wants a public meeting to discuss options with public works officials before making any decisions.

Democratic Council Chair Shalonda Webb of unincorporated North County said she won’t green-light any proposal unless Page releases long-delayed pandemic relief aid for several nonprofits serving ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County residents.

And Republican Dennis Hancock of Fenton said he’d be in favor of using some of the $178 million from the NFL Rams settlement, and doesn’t believe the situation is as urgent as Page’s administration says. The first two floors already have sprinklers.

“I don’t think it’s going to take three years for us to put sprinklers in this building. The infrastructure for the sprinklers is already here,� Hancock said.

Two councilmembers want a new building. Republican Ernie Trakas of unincorporated South County said Roos isn’t salvageable. Democratic Councilwoman Lisa Clancy of Maplewood said she’s frustrated the council hasn’t seriously considered any options, though contractors and public works officials presented them last summer.

“It seems like every hearing we have and every discussion we have, we’re going backward and asking questions we’ve already asked,� Clancy said.

Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway, a Democrat from Chesterfield, did not respond to a request for comment.

On Tuesday, Page said he wants a new building. If the county leased, it wouldn’t own anything at the end of the agreement.

And the existing building requires such an overhaul that it would mean “throwing good money after bad,� he said.

Windows and the façade need replacing. The sewer pipes at the county police headquarters next door are rotting. The Roos building leaks — in one cubicle, a temporary pipe leads to a bucket to catch the water — and sometimes county workers can’t figure out where the leaks are coming from.

An exterior tuckpointing job done about 10 years ago already shows cracks. A device on the top floor that circulates air is so rusted and crumbly that it would disintegrate if the county tried to replace it.

“We can’t keep putting this off,� Page said Tuesday. “In three years, we’re going to have to be sprinklered in this building, or we’re going to have to be out of it.�

Page wants to get a ballot initiative before voters in November.