The project to replace the curtain wall on the JEA parking garage along Laura Street between Duval and Church streets has begun.
The demolition of the exterior curtain wall on the structure (above) will take place on Saturdays and Sundays for six weeks for safety and traffic disruption reasons, said JEA spokeswoman Gerri Boyce.
The garage opened in November 1960 and has since suffered water intrusion that has led to pieces of the precast concrete panel falling off and landing on the sidewalk below.
When the restoration project was presented to the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Downtown Development Review Board in February, JEA Project Manager Steve Wiggins said the wall had “seen its useful life.”
“I won’t say the wall is going to fall tomorrow, but I won’t walk under it,” he said then.
Replacement of the wall and other repair work inside the garage are scheduled to be completed in March, said Boyce.