UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. architect Michael Adlerstein, who has helped renovate buildings ranging from the Statue of Liberty to the Taj Mahal, will take over the lagging project to restore U.N. headquarters, the United Nations said on Monday.

Adlerstein, a New Yorker, will be the new executive director of the so-called capital master plan, a $1.88 billion plan to modernize the iconic 55-year-old skyscraper overlooking Manhattan’s East River, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced.

The blue-tinted glass and steel 38-story structure, whose original architects included France’s Le Corbusier, has been increasingly showing its age. It has water dripping through its roof, toxic asbestos lining its ceiling tiles, no sprinklers in case of fire, and erratic heating and cooling systems.

Planning to refurbish it originally began in 1995 but no work has started and the project is not expected to be completed until 2014. The current plan calls for a temporary structure to be erected on the U.N. lawn to accommodate staff.

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John Bolton may have some suggestions about overhauling the UN headquarters.