With demolition on the previous great apes loop at the Jacksonville Zoo nearly complete, focus turns toward what the future African Forest will look like.



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With demolition on the previous great apes loop at the Jacksonville Zoo nearly complete, focus turns toward what the future African Forest will look like.
Demolition has begun on a 65-year-old water tower that has been at the heart of discussions between county and city officials following failure of the two jurisdictions to agree on the terms of a land-lease for the 1.25-acre property.
Though the demolition was loud right next to the site, the street below was relatively quiet, which contradicts previous concerns had about the effect of noise on the surrounding neighborhood.
Today at the site, Mr. Wortman controlled a drone which filmed the demolition of the building, and had also set up two time-lapse cameras to record the work. The museum board plans on making a film of the demolition and reconstruction of the building to screen inside the museum.
CSX Corp. continues to invest in its Jacksonville facilities.
Pending building permits show Jacksonville-based CSX wants to invest almost $102,500 into renovations of its data center at 6425 Southpoint Parkway and $85,000 into interior demolition of the first- and second-floor coffee shop and café at the Downtown headquarters.
“The company is implementing plans to maximize our use of CSX-owned facilities and to modernize them to provide a better-quality work environment and help strengthen our organizational alignment by co-locating work groups to improve efficiency,” spokesman Rob Doolittle said Thursday in a statement.
In Southpoint, at Butler Boulevard and Interstate 95, property records show CSX owns three buildings totaling 68,306 square feet.
They’re on 22.8 acres at 6425 Southpoint Parkway. The permit shows CSX wants to renovate 4,600 square feet in a Data Center building.
Duckworth Construction Co. is the contractor.
Doolittle said CSX also continues to occupy some leased space in Southpoint at 6800 Southpoint Drive.
He said the Data Center will be renovated to accommodate additional employees relocating from the Southpoint location.
Downtown, Auld & White Constructors is the contractor for the coffee shop and café project at the 500 Water St. headquarters building.
Interior demolition involves 19,820 square feet on the first and second floors. The permit applications and plans say the tenant improvements will be sought separately.
Doolittle said some functions are being consolidated and additional employees will be assigned to the headquarters building. He said the company is enhancing the kitchen equipment and physical layout of the employee cafeteria.
He said CSX also will add a small concession space and collaborative spaces in the main lobby area where employees can buy coffee, snack items and sundries.
CSX previously sought a permit for a $1.85 million project to renovate its executive and administration offices on the 15th floor. The city is reviewing the plans.
“These efforts and others to come are part of the overall facilities program that CSX is implementing to accommodate the business’ changing requirements in the Jacksonville area,” Doolittle said.
He said the projects “represent an investment in CSX’s future as a major Jacksonville employer, and the work is being competitively contracted with local firms as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting the local economy.”
CSX has cut jobs since Hunter Harrison’s plans to run the company surfaced in January.
News broke Jan. 18 that Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. CEO Hunter Harrison was leaving that job early and negotiating to become CEO at CSX.
CSX’s plans to cut 1,000 management jobs, with many in Jacksonville, surfaced Feb. 21 after the company announced Chairman and CEO Michael Ward and President Clarence Gooden would retire May 31.
Harrison was hired in March as CEO.
CSX has been leasing two additional Southpoint office buildings at 6735 and 6737 Southpoint Drive S., but terminated its lease effective March 2018 as part of a company initiative to operate more efficiently and reduce overhead costs.
Colliers International has been marketing those structures for lease as a corporate office campus. Together, they provide 275,229 square feet of space.
Doolittle said the CSX management team continues to review its operations and make changes to improve efficiency, safety and customer service.
“We are also investing in the facilities in the Jacksonville area to accommodate the changing office and technology needs of our employees,” he said.
The demolition works are expected to go on for two months.
If commission members find that the abandoned structure is dilapidated, substandard, unfit for human habitation, a health hazard, or a danger to people and property, they should order the owner to demolish the former hospital building within 90 days, the affidavit states.
The motel property subsequently was sold and the site is scheduled to become the future site of a Wawa convenience store which projected to open in the summer 2018.
On Wednesday, piles of debris including broken tables, chairs, fixtures and other items apparently stripped from the empty rooms were visible through through a chain-link fence surrounding the property that was overgrown with weeds and strewn with trash.
After the purchase, the Publix on Bella Cruz Drive had retained an Albertsons-style interior layout.
There are a total of 1,147 Publix stores in the United States. The bulk of them, 777 stores, are located in Florida. 904-751-2177
The east stack is scheduled to be imploded at 8 a.m. July 17. The west stack is not expected to be demolished until September at the earliest.
Streets a block south of Lakeshore also will be closed, to maintain a 1,000-foot perimeter around the demolition site, Lewis said. Sheriff and city fire department boats will be in Muskegon Lake to maintain the perimeter on the water.
Residents in the area have been notified they must either evacuate or shelter in place, Lewis said.
The streets will remain closed for three hours after the scheduled demolition to allow time for air quality monitoring and other testing, Lewis said.
The stack has asbestos paint on it, and the plan originally was to remove the paint prior to demolition. However, the stack’s crumbling condition and the danger of “imminent” collapse forced a change in those plans, and the debris will be treated as hazardous material.
Less than 24 hours after a fire engulfed the vacant building factory on Wednesday, a demolition crew was at the site on Thursday.
Three Downtown Jacksonville buildings were previously demolished and the remaining four buildings on the property were scheduled to be demolished at some time this month, White said.
The $55 million renovations will add 400 club seats and 116 loge seats. The stadium is seeing its 17 suites expanded to 20 and heavily renovated.
Demolition Experts in Jacksonville, FLDriveway & Swimming Pool RemovalFree Instant Online QuoteText 904-626-6663 For A Quote
3400 Jones Road
Jacksonville, FL 32220
(904) 751-1628
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