H.R. 4494 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire up to 20 acres of land in Frederick County, Maryland, for a new Historic Preservation Training Center for National Park Service (NPS) employees. Under the bill, the NPS could purchase land using donated or appropriated funds or acquire it through donation, transfer, or exchange. The center is now housed in a 20,000-square-foot space at the old Jenkins Cannery in Frederick, Maryland. The lease for the space is in place through September 2023.
Using information from the NPS, CBO expects that the agency would acquire land and build a new 75,000-square-foot center. Using information from the NPS about potentially suitable sites, CBO estimates it would cost $1 million to acquire the land and $30 million for site preparation, construction, and opening the center. Spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
If donated funds were used to purchase the land, enacting the bill would have a negligible net effect on direct spending.
CBO’s estimate of the costs for implementing H.R. 4494 is uncertain because we do not know where in Frederick County, Maryland, the NPS would ultimately purchase land for the Historic Preservation Training Center, if they ultimately do so. Additionally, future costs to construct such a facility could be higher or lower than CBO estimates, depending on the site, construction costs, and the center’s final scope and scale.
