Work is progressing ahead of schedule at the Department of Human Resource's new Calhoun County facility, contractors told the Anniston Public Building Authority today.
The authority met to get a progress report on the projects. Three of the five members, Jim Miller, Seyram Selase and Tom Harmon, along with several city staff members heard that the projects were going well.
Bobby DeHaye, project manager for Brice Building, which is constructing the Justin Sollohub Justice Center across from Zinn Park, told the members concrete for the southeast corner of the building is scheduled to be poured Wednesday and would be the first major pour of the project.
“We’ve made some really good progress in terms of getting the building pads put up,” DeHaye said. “No real issues to be concerned with.”
Mark Coyle, senior architect for Goodwin, Mills and Cawood, which is constructing the DHR building on the old Chalk Line mill site between 11th and 14th streets west of Noble Street, presented a number of requested changes to the company’s contract that would result in $438 in savings on the project. The group unanimously approved the changes, which included signage, bridge work and a road change.
The building is slightly ahead of schedule, Coyle told the board members, adding a cautionary note: it’s never really ahead of schedule until it’s done.
“We’ve got a finish date in mid-October but we may be looking at the last week of September,” Coyle said.
As long as things stay on schedule, the building may be the first LEED-certified building in the state built on a former industrial site, Coyle told the members.
There are a couple of other projects under construction in other areas of the state, but Anniston is further ahead on its project than the others, Coyle said after the meeting.
The site, which the city obtained through a tax lien, had been an industrial site for more than 100 years and had to be cleaned of the remnants of that history before anything could be built there. The city received grants to clean the site. It was certified construction-ready by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and DHR agreed to build there. The authority members have all along pushed for an energy-efficient project and the architects complied by seeking a silver certification for the building, Coyle said.
During construction of the building, the company can claim points from the U.S. Green Building Council for being energy efficient and environmentally friendly, he said. To be certified the building has to have at least 40 points and to be certified silver, the building has to claim 50 to 59 points, Coyle said.
That means it will be at least 30 percent more efficient than the average new building, Coyle said.
“We should be in reality about 45 percent better than the average build,” Coyle said.
The combination of using a recovered industrial site and the certification is a big accomplishment for the city, Coyle said.
Star staff writer Laura Camper: 256-235-3545. On Twitter @LCamper_Star.
