JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It could be months before the iconic Wells Fargo building in downtown Jacksonville reopens after it was heavily damaged during Hurricane Irma, when floodwaters rushed into the basement, knocking out power to the building and its backup generators.
Nearly 100 workers, some wearing Hazmat suits and respirators, flooded the building Monday, working to clean it up as tenants are being forced to move out.
Pump trucks lined the street outside the building, working to get the water out and the building up and running.
Even from outside the building, the odor of raw sewage was powerful, and it was clear it will take a lot of work to make the building usable.
In an email to tenants, officials with the management company, Banyan Streety, wrote, “Although we do not have a specific timeframe at this time, it is going to be weeks/months before the building is open.”
That means businesses that had offices inside need to make other plans.
The Law Firm of Pajcic & Pajcic has already done just that and is now moving into a space on Water Street next to the Omni hotel, which is a few blocks away from the Wells Fargo building.
Curry Pajcic said the law firm was fortunate, but the move is not easy.
“It's rough. You have to hike 19 floors to get your office space out, and then 19 floors down with what you can carry in your arms, and then 19 floors back up,” Pajcic said. “But we got on it early. We had headlamps to go through the stairwells because there is no power.”
Pajcic & Pajcic and other businesses had to move their entire IT departments from the building by lugging computers and servers down flights of steps to set up shop elsewhere.
Some businesses had items stored in the basement area, where there was water damage.
“It's really hard,” Pajcic said. “It's hard on a lot of people, and a lot of people are having a hard time with it.”
That includes the Atrium sandwich shop on the first floor, which recently opened and now will be out of business until the building reopens.
Pajcic said his business is prepared to be in its new location for the next two or three months and that they will decide later if they are going to move back once the Wells Fargo building is reopened.