by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The City would really like to begin renovating the inside of the old Federal Courthouse, which will be used as part of the new County Courthouse complex and house the State Attorney’s Office.
The problem is, until the roof of the old courthouse can be properly repaired and assure the inside is dry, nothing can be done to the interior of the building.
Dave Schneider is a senior project manager for courthouse and the lone remaining project manager from the several who originally started the Better Jacksonville Plan projects. Schneider said he isn’t sure how many times the roof has been repaired.
“I’m not sure if it has failed twice, I just know we only have to pay the contractor once,” said Schneider, who oversaw the construction of the new Veterans Memorial Arena and the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
The general contractor on the job is R.B. Gay Construction Co. Inc. who has subcontracted the roof job to J.R. Deck Systems. George Durrance of R.B. Gay said the problem the first time around was the initial concrete pour set too hard, making it impossible to drive roofing nails into the concrete base.
“The mix was too hard, so we had to cut it out and redo it,” said Durrance. “It was too strong and we couldn’t get the nails through. The nails would not go in and would either bend or break.”
Durrance explained the 75-year-old roof presented its problems. A concrete subroof was discovered when the old roof was torn out. The new roof is a multi-layer system that includes two layers of concrete, roofing felt and a sealant. Durrance said the current concrete work will pass inspection and should be done today (Tuesday).
“As soon as we pour the concrete it has to cure for two days. Then, there is two weeks worth of roofing work then a cap sheet,” he said.
Schneider said despite the issues, the project is on schedule. The roofing job started in April and is scheduled to be done next month. To date, Schneider said, $1.5 million of the job’s $1.8 million budget has been paid out.
“We don’t make payments until the work up-to-date has been acceptable,” said Schneider.
When the roof is complete, Schneider said the next step is to pressure wash and clean the entire outside of the building. Much of the funding for this stage, he said, will come from historical grants from the State of Florida.
“We will also repair, replace and rehabilitate the windows,” said Schneider. “The state historical people would like us to preserve as much as possible. We will start the interior renovations in 2008.”
Eventually, the old Federal Courthouse will be part of the $203.5 million new criminal courthouse complex — the last major vertical project within the $2.2 billion Better Jacksonville Plan.
“Right now, the State Attorney’s Office is going in, but that’s subject to change,” said Schneider. “There is talk of a law library and parts of the Clerk of Courts office, things like marriage licenses, civil filings and adoptions.”
Overall, the new courthouse will have a budget of $263.5 million. That budget is broken down as follows: $211 million from the Better Jacksonville Plan, $48.3 million from traffic fine surcharges, $3.4 million from court documents facilities fund and $811,000 from the court facilities trust fund.
The City is currently negotiating with the team of Auchter/Perry/McCall/Rink Design/DLR Group to serve as as the design/build consultant on the courthouse. One person who will be happy to see ground broken and a busy courthouse is Brian Baldwin. He’s been selling hot dogs at the corner of Julia and Monroe streets for six-and-a-half years and he’s looking forward to the day the new County Courthouse complex is teeming with people and the Ed Ball Building is full again.
“Eventually, this will be a great site,” he said. “We’ll have the courthouses, the State Attorney’s Office and the City in the Ed Ball Building. “