Representative from Beers Skanska gave a few local contractors a guided tour Thursday morning of the new $80 million United States Courthouse at Jacksonville. After almost three years, the courthouse will open Sept. 20 with a ceremony conducted by the General Services Administration, which is regionally based out of Atlanta. After the tour, Director of Development Robert Utsey and Superintendent Tom Sherman of Beers Skanska spoke with Daily Record staff writer Mike Sharkey about the new courthouse and what else Beers Skanska may be involved in and around Jacksonville.
Question: How are things going with the project?
Sherman: Things are going fine. We’ve got a substantial completion date of Sept. 20 and we’re on track for that right now. We gave the courts a move in schedule two days ago and they are pleased with that. They are planning on moving, on their schedule, into the building.
Q: Does everyone associated with the project from Beers to the GSA to the judges seem happy with the project overall?
Sherman: It’s been a great relationship with the judges and the GSA. We just had our tenant meeting yesterday [Wednesday] with the courts and, this late in the game, we went through the agenda and they had no questions for us. It’s nice to see that this late.
Q: It’s been a three-year project and it seems like it’s been relatively smooth with no major problems. Have there been any pleasant or unpleasant surprises over that three-year period?
Sherman: None. Fred Kyle from the City [Traffic Engineering Department] comes over to all our tenant meetings. We invite them [the City] over to see if they have any issues and Fred hasn’t had any issues with the project. It’s been a quiet project. One day we had a dust issue with them [City Hall] and we immediately took care of that with the contractor. We started wetting the area and they were pleased with that. We met with their environmental people and they were pleased after we left. Everything is going really well.
Q: There are only a couple of floors that look similar to each other. Otherwise, each floor seems to have its own characteristics. Was it interesting to work on a big building that wasn’t a 37-story high-rise with every floor virtually identical?
Sherman: It was very unique. In the construction industry, a building like this you don’t get to do very often where you have a total build-out. Typically, a high-rise is just a shell and tenants come in and other interior contractors come in later. Here, we’ve had every aspect of construction on this project. It’s been very motivating for the superintendents to get involved in every aspect. It’s been a very enjoyable project.
Q: Were there any major or subtle changes made in light of the events of Sept. 11?
Sherman: There were no changes at all. They [the GSA] had a lot of that covered in their design.
Q: What’s been the most enjoyable or entertaining aspect of the project?
Sherman: Really, just working with the judges. The judges come over, they visit often. They are pleased and obviously that’s encouraging to us. It’s been a great group of judges to work with.
Q: Where does Beers Skanska stand in regards to getting the new county courthouse contract?
Utsey: The proposals have been submitted and they are being reviewed. We’re comfortable with our position because of how well these guys have done on this job. The team [of contractors and subcontractors] we have on this project has done a terrific job and because of the timing of the new courthouse we can just transition this entire team right next door. There’s no learning curve for this team and they understand downtown and they have relationships here.
Q: The other two firms competing for the county courthouse are from out of town. Is Beers still considered an out-of-town firm or, because you have an office here now, is Beers a local firm?
Utsey: We would like to think we’re viewed as local. We’ve been here for three years. We have a large office [on Prudential Drive]. We have almost 30 people working out of this office and over 20 of them live in Jacksonville and pay taxes here and their kids go to school here. We’re part of the fabric of the community. I was born and raised here, so I know the place well. We have some other folks on our team who know Jacksonville well.
Q: Did Beers establish an office here in anticipation of getting projects beyond the federal courthouse?
Utsey: We came here to establish a presence in North Florida. Our intent is to be here for a long, long time and do a lot of different types of projects. We don’t just do large projects. We are doing a project [the Woodland Acres Elementary renovation] for the School Board right now that’s $6 million.
Q: The architect for this project is KBJ, a local firm. Has that made life easier?
Sherman: Yes. Having the architect just a couple of blocks down the road has helped a lot. It’s easy for them to monitor the progress and you can get answers to questions in just a few minutes. That was one of the architects that just went by and tapped me on the shoulder.