JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After months of delays and pushbacks, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry on Tuesday confirmed an implosion date for the Berkman Plaza II, a half-finished eyesore along the Northbank.
As noted by the mayor on Twitter, the implosion date has been set for March 6 at 10 a.m. The city took control of the demolition process in January, and Curry said no further delays are anticipated.
Last month, the Jacksonville City Council voted 15-1 in favor of $1.2 million toward the demolition of the building that has remained since construction ceased in 2007. The ordinance appropriates $1.2 million from the city’s general fund to contract Pece of Mind Environmental Inc. to demolish the abandoned structure on East Bay Street.
In the legislation filed in January, the city wrote that it considers the condition of the structure “to be an immediate threat to the life, safety and welfare of property and citizens located near and around the structure warranting an emergency appropriation of funds necessary to pay the costs for demolition of the building without further delay.”
In January 2021, the developer received a permit to conduct a mechanical demolition using a “top-down” approach. The bill notes that during that process, the contractor — Pece of Mind Environmental, Inc. — “identified structural deficiencies in the building that were exacerbated by the mechanical demolition process, causing at least one of the upper floors to ‘pancake’ on the floor below, which required an emergency halt to all further mechanical demolition activities.”
Along the way, there have been repeated delays in the implosion.
A memo released by Park Beeler -- a managing member of PB Riverfront Revitalizations -- stated that its target date of Jan. 8, 2022 for demolition was “too optimistic.” The memo reads that the demolition is “far more complex than would normally have been the case” and that “No mistakes can be tolerated. There is too much at stake to take even the slightest chances.”
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Councilman Gaffney, who has been advocating for the implosion, says it will happen this time, and he says safety continues to be a top priority.
“It’s always been safety first. We’re going to make sure those at Berkman I and the jailhouse are going to be safe before we do anything out there,” Gaffney said.
Gaffney said he has high hopes for growth downtown after the Berkman II is removed.
“The city is going to say in two or three years ‘thank God this structure is gone. We finally see movement downtown.’ So, I can’t be more excited than when I was when I first got elected,” he said.
There has also been a dispute between the developer and contractor over payment for contractor services, which led to notification from the contractor of its intent to remove protective barriers from around the building. According to the city, it’s what led to the mayor’s emergency legislation.
An email from Pece of Mind was sent to the city Jan. 6, saying it would be filing a construction lien on the Berkman II parcel for what it considers “a significant delinquent unpaid account.”