COMMENTARY | Tragedy and human error conspired to deliver Jacksonville s benighted waterfront the skeletal Berkman Plaza 2 tower. Legal and political atrophy sustained the abandoned building for 13 long years a throbbing, embarrassing cold sore in downtown. Its merciful demolition this summer could finally herald progress.
During its seemingly endless life, the hollowed-out 18-story Berkman 2 became iconic in its own way: An overgrown, ghostly relic from a more optimistic era; a physical embodiment of downtown s unbreakable stagnation; a towering reminder to be skeptical of the downtown crowd s endless promises and architectural renderings; a tantalizing display of just how easy ever-elusive progress ought to be.
After sitting vacant and unfinished for more than 13 years, demolition crews began preliminary site work April 27 to tear down the Berkman Plaza II high-rise Downtown.
Steve Pece, president of demolition contractor Pece of Mind Environmental Inc., said his crews have “boots on the ground” to demolish the 18-story structure through its contract with the property’s likely developer, Jacksonville Riverfront Revitalization LLC.
Pece said April 27 that workers won’t start taking down the shell structure for three to four weeks as crews put in erosion control measures, expand fencing and clean up loose debris at the site floor by floor.
A Jacksonville riverfront eyesore is coming down. What’s next?
Updated:
Tags:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There is new life for a downtown eyesore.
After it was announced that the 18-story skeleton will begin coming down, plans for what could replace the Berkman II building were released Wednesday. The plan would include residential and some retail sites. The name, for now: 500 East Bay.
Groundbreaking could take place six months after the current site is demolished. Demolition is projected to cost just over $1 million and take four months.
The developer, Jacksonville Riverfront Revitalization LLC., is in the process of closing on the site and is paying over $5.6 million for the building and land.
Work begins to demolish 18-story riverfront eyesore
Berkman II has sat idle since fatal construction accident in 2007
Updated:
Tags:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than a dozen years after construction of a riverfront high-rise condominium project was idled by a collapse that killed one worker and injured more than a dozen others, the 18-story skeleton will begin coming down.
Over the last decade, there have been several failed efforts to sell and redevelop the property on Bay Street across from the Police Memorial Building. With a sale of the property about to close, heavy equipment began arriving Tuesday and demolition is about to begin.