by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Keystone Industries President Tom Scholl thanked Gov. Rick Scott and Mayor Alvin Brown for their support Wednesday of his 110-acre project and then talked about plans for another one almost 10 times as large.
Scholl wouldn’t provide information on the new project other than it would involve a new port on about 1,000 acres along the St. Johns River north of the Keystone Talleyrand terminal.
He said he is working with developer Abraham Zion on the project.
Duval County property records show that the Zion Jacksonville Limited Partnership, led by Zion, who lives in New York, owns property along Kraft Road and Eastport Road in North Jacksonville.
“The project will bring a lot more than 200 jobs,” said Scholl, who did not elaborate.
About 150 people gathered Wednesday north of Talleyrand Avenue to celebrate the dedication of Keystone’s $100 million materials terminal in Jacksonville.
Scott and Brown joined local business leaders to congratulate Scholl and he in turn thanked them.
“I want to thank Governor Rick Scott and Mayor Alvin Brown, we need these people,” said Scholl.
“We’ve got bigger projects coming, and a project like this we can’t do by ourselves. We need help,” said Scholl.
Scholl thanked TD Bank for approving a loan for $24 million for the project, “when a lot of banks weren’t lending money to anybody.”
“This port is so critical to our success, not just for now, but for generations to come,” said Brown. “I believe that when (Scott) and I work together, we can create opportunities for the next generation.”
Scott called the ports a big opportunity.
“This state is known for tourism, it is known for agriculture. We are going to be known as the shipping capital for, at least, the East Coast,” he said.
“The way we are going to do it is we are going to pick these ports and we are going to make sure they are very, very, very successful. We are going to have local dollars, state dollars and federal dollars, but it’s going to be individuals like Tom’s family and all of our governments working together to make this happen,” said Scott.
Lawyer George Gabel, international business chair for the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, called Scholl “a man of great vision.”
“He believes in keeping our country strong through building exporting opportunities,” said Gabel.
The new terminal on the bank of the St. Johns River will receive imported coal, petroleum coke and other bulk materials that can be supplied to customers by truck, rail or barge. The property offers three berths with a draft of 42 feet.
An executive with the terminal’s first tenant, Vulcan Materials Co., said Vulcan was attracted by the port’s transportation connections.
“This location gives us ready access to I-95 and I-10 to distribute aggregate materials throughout the North Florida area,” said Scott McCaleb, vice president of Vulcan’s Florida Rock Division.
“We are pleased to have access to one of the fastest unloading systems in the United States. It allows us to get ships in here, unloaded and out within a day,” he said.
Vulcan signed a 20-year lease for 10 acres at the terminal, and already has had two ships unload at the terminal.
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