“The wind is a-blowing and the rain is a-coming!” shouted our crack on the spot reporter, Brian Baldwin.  “I’m going to have to shut it down.”  It was noon on Monday, February 22, 2010, and he was right.  The wind speed around the New Duval County Courthouse project was blowing so hard it was unimaginable that any more work could continue.  In addition, the temperature dropped 10 degrees in minutes.

Brian was talking about shutting down his hotdog stand not the courthouse construction.  “It’s hard to keep a flame going!” Brian added.  “Did you see the duct work?”   There were visible signs of interior progress.  Temporary wiring was installed to hang overhead lights.  As Brian mentioned, there is plenty of duct work and now several pipes are visible to the naked eye.

This morning, the concrete was poured to complete a large portion of the second floor flooring (or first floor ceiling).  A “Reinhardt” photograph clearly shows the workers completing the leveling.

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Our crack photographer, Reinhardt, just uploaded photographs taken at 5:00 pm EST today (February 16, 2010) displaying the exterior skin applied to the far west section of the New Duval County Courthouse.

In addition, he added another photograph of the stationary crane which went into operation today after its move from the far west section to the far east of the construction site.

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The construction still moves along barely impeded by any force of nature. This has been one of the coldest winters in Jacksonville history since the late 1800’s but the workers continue to get their job done. It is hard to imagine how cold one might feel in and around cave-like bare concrete.

Winds have been high adding to the brutal cold. And, some of the men work throughout the night.

Luckily for Turner Construction and the City of Jacksonville, since construction was started in May 2009, the construction site has remained open approximately 95 percent (maybe 98 percent) of the time. February 12, 2010, was different. It was freezing cold and raining throughout the day. No one was visible on the job site. On February 11, 2010, Florida was the only state of the 49 in North America that did not have snow. Dallas, Texas, had 18 inches of snow and Atlanta experienced its third huge snow storm this season. Today, Hartsfield airport in Atlanta is closed due to this white powdery frozen precipitation.

February 11, 2010, will go down in the record books as the day the final height was reached on the western section of the new courthouse. This achievement was marked with little fanfare except for the beginning of the dismantling of the giant stationary crane and tower that gracefully assisted in this section’s erection and was visible for months in Jacksonville’s skyline.

In the next three days the pieces of this crane and tower will be moved 100 yards to the most eastern side of the construction site. Here, a lonely base piece of crane tower(erected about one month earlier) has been patiently anticipating the arrival of the remainder of the crane. Now the eastern side of the courthouse will rise up from its lowly slab and join the rest of the sections looking down on it.

When asked about the progress, freezing Hot Dog man Brian Baldwin said, “At the pace they have kept up, I think Turner will complete the construction of the exterior by June 2010. The weather has held up and based on my dog sales, the company has added tons of workers.” Brian looked like one of those smokers you see outside a building on a cold wet day. They are bundled up and hunched over to stay warm. Even so,like the lonely mail man, he braved the elements to serve the downtown workers their share of tube steaks.

If you’re ever near the corner of 311 West Monroe, stop by and buy a dog and greet Brian with a warm “Hi Brian.” Then have some fun and ask him what
types of soda he’s selling. You will enjoy his trademark reply. If you have any questions on life, sports, healthcare, politics, religion, construction or anything else you can imagine, he’s got the answer.

Where else can you receive information and life advice for as little as two dollars?

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Well, it is February 2010 and the courthouse project is moving ahead at breakneck speed. A guess at the number of construction workers would probably be over 100 but less than 125. New sections and floor levels seem to go up daily. Even though it has been cold on the site, without rain the work can continue uninterrupted.

Around the back of the courthouse, a temporary mechanical elevator was installed to move workers to the higher floors. Previously, the men (and women?) were required to climb makeshift ladders to advance to the next floor. In the front of the courthouse, metal stairways have been added. There are still several of the ladders in use around the project but the elevator and stairway are welcomed additions. They are a signs of progress.

When looking at the building from the front, it appears lopsided. There are four major sections beginning from the most western to the most eastern. The eastern section hasn’t had one level built though two portions of its flooring have been poured and its appears that its first floor will be complete within two weeks. The most western section has nearly reached its completed height of 7 stories.

Jim Fuller, Clerk of the Court, stated, “That he was told the reason the southern section was completed first was because most of the major building components would go into this section.” When asked if he had heard anything about Angela’s walkway Jim said, “I know the Chief Judge wants a dome on the building and Angela wants the walkway. They are both still discussing the possibilities. ”

Our crack reporter, Brian Baldwin, was in his element serving up his tubed steak delicacies. He could be heard from a distance defending why Jacksonville employees did not make up a large number of workers on the construction site. The site was picketed a week ago over this issue by local unions. Serving up a dog, Brian said, “Look, don’t tell me they don’t give Jacksonville workers a chance because the do. I’ve been told that many of the workers can’t pass the “P” test. They have to get past the nurse to work.” When one of the listeners inquired as to what he was talking about, Brian explained, “Every worker on-site must pee into a cup for a urine test for drugs. They don’t need drugged up workers hurting someone by careless acts. I’ve been told that very few Jacksonville workers can pass that test. Heck, it should be easy. The “weed” would be out of their body in 30 days… can’t they stop smoking pot for 30 stupid days? But even so, they’ve caught guys with cocaine in their urine, too.”

Noticing glaring looks from a couple of the non-workers, Brian quipped, “Now I’m not sayin that all Jacksonville workers are lazy and drugged. So don’t even go there.”

Another man said, “That doesn’t explain the workers that got on the job and were fired.”

“Ya wanta know about that?” Brian asked. His tone of voice elevated just a tad.

“I heard they can’t cut it. Plain and Simple. Some of the shirts (supervisors) told me that they have to let them go the first day because they just cannot keep up with real workers. They also said that several workers have left by noon their first day on the job. It seems that they don’t like the pace or the amount of hard labor.”

The large stationary crane has not been moved from the western position to its final location on the far east side as predicted. But, a new large yellow crane has been assembled and has joined the two stationary cranes. It appears the yellow crane is being used to place some of the first pieces of exterior skin onto the building.

Brian’s hotdog and sausage dog business finally has brisk sales. That 8 years of waiting has finally started to pay off. What some may call overnight success. Workers were stacked up waiting for his culinary delights. I waved goodbye from a distance and yelled, “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Seeya”, he yelled back. What a guy!

Recent update: Brian called to say that he is upset with someone. It appears that he has been listening to the local weather men and they have been getting it wrong. Brian said, “I can make a closer guess at the weather with my fickle finger.” Ha!

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As 2009 comes to a close, Reinhardt wanted to provide a medley of his courthouse photography covering the past eight months of construction.

Ground clearing began in May 2009 and as you can see, considerable progress has been made. In fact our man on the street, Brian, reports that we will notice a skyline change in a matter of days.

Turning the frying morsels of beef, Brian asked, “Do you see that grey staircase going nowhere about 100 yards away? It was placed there overnight. That is the base of one of those giant cranes.” I could see in the distance the object he referenced. “Now notice those red crane parts just in front of the courthouse. That crane will be assembled and used to take down the giant crane on the west side of the building. Once it is on the ground it will be reconstructed on that new base on the east side.”

While Brian was busy with customers, I used the binoculars to view the red temporary crane. Pieces of it were being trucked in for the purpose he had noted.

“The east section that has been neglected from the beginning should rise up rapidly to join the rest of the construction.”

Before leaving I asked Brian how his business was holding up. He said, “If the powers to be would keep illegal vending from selling to the construction workers things would be great. Until then, it is going to be tough going. I play by the rules.”

If you are in his area (around 311 West Monroe), please purchase your dogs from his licensed hotdog stand. You’ll get a good price and Brian’s opinion on everything from politics to sports.

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It was reported yesterday in the Florida Times-Union that Angela Corey will probably get her $800,000 (you know it will be a million) walkway installed.

This walkway (for safety’s sake) will extend from the new courthouse to the old U.S. District Courthouse nearby. The old U.S. District Courthouse will be refitted (at a cost of over $20,000,000) for the State Prosecutors lead by Angela Corey.

We had to get Brian’s reaction to this news.

Brian said, “I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that Angela will buy one of my hotdogs. The federal judges enjoy them so why wouldn’t she like them. Another hotdog vendor at the state court sells dogs to the state court
judges. What I mean is . . . they’ve got to eat.”

The smell was so enticing I had to get a sausage dog.

“Two Strips Spicy, Right?” asked Brian.

I nodded in approval.

What Brian was eluding to, was the fact that even with all the “million dollar security” and “safe underground parking” that the judges take walks and eat out on a regular basis. “Heck, they’d be better off building them a restaurant and never letting them leave the courthouse,” Brian added. “That is, if they want to be safe and secure,” he said rolling his eyes.

The crowd laughed.

“You know the prosecutors eat, too. I’ll even go so far as to say the defense attorneys will eat here.”

“Look at that!” Brian said, pointing to weeds growing on what he termed “Angela’s House.”

After a nearly $100,000 pressure wash and cleaning, the old District Courthouse has weeds growing all over it.

Yelling to the customers as though he were standing standing on his very own soap box, Brian shouted, “They’ll never get those sticky little weed attachments off.” Then he handed me my burned sausage dog. Just the way I like it.

The progress on the NEW DUVAL COUNTY COURTHOUSE is perplexing at best. Over on the far left they have completed pouring a fifty yard section of the fourth floor even though the second floor has not been poured on over one third of the building. In the center section of the courthouse the workers were busy pouring and smoothing the floor of the third floor. The fancy temple building ,which was always noticeable in the distance, is now just a memory as the fourth floor is completed.

I guess we can call this progress?

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Our photographer Rhinehardt took these latest photos displayed below of the New Duval County Courthouse. His timing was perfect to capture a “Sneak Peek” of the exterior skin installed at the rear of the courthouse. Rhinehardt said, “I guess they didn’t want anyone to see it. It was there one moment and gone the next.” Sure enough, driving behind the courthouse, there is no evidence that this installation ever occurred. “Its gone!”

Rhinehardt exclaimed. “I’m telling you, if I did not have photographic evidence, you’d think I were crazy. So folks, you are privy to a once-in-a-lifetime photographic moment.

Other still photographs demonstrate the progress that has been made on the city’s new courthouse. The courthouse has a partially completed third floor as exhibited by the wide overview photograph and another closeup shows the first pieces of plumbing pipe which were recently delivered on-site. Rhinehardt ended his report by stating, “It won’t be long until I’ll have to wear a hardhat and snap a few photographs inside… or buy a new camera lens.”

The latest development: Whether it was the “undocumented workers” or “safety reasons” the property has been sealed by Jacksonville Sheriff officers.

Their JSO police cars are visible at both entrances to the construction site.

Hot Dog man, Brian, reports that he has new competition. He reported, “A new-fangled giant hotdog/fryer trailer has opened up just outside the front gates of the construction site. Though this isn’t a certified city hot dog stand location, supposedly it is “approved” if the stand is on a paved lot? One must wonder what the ZONING department would have to say about that and why small hotdog stand owners have to jump through hoops to open a stand downtown?”

This can only mean that restaurants can open on any property in the city without approval. “Of course, a giant meal wagon pulls up to the front gate during breakfast and lunch hours every day using “illegal” parking areas. Now that the JSO is on top of this (they are within 10 feet of it), maybe they will ticket the offender and run them away?’ Brian ended by stating,”I’ve played by the city and state guidlines. I’ve waited 8 years for this business. It just is not fair.”

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