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A Monumental Job
Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn
Has Been Complex, Unpredictable
By Tom Stabile
| Discussions
are reportedly under way by Fireman's Fund to bring in
a new general contractor, Clark Construction Group in
Bethesda, Md. |
Nothing about building the new 17-story "addition"
for the U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York in
downtown Brooklyn has been simple.
For starters, it's a mammoth job-650,000 sq. ft. in a 260-ft.
building. It encompasses a steel structural frame with concrete
floor plates in the tower linking to a new cast-in-place concrete
lobby that connects to an existing courthouse facility, which
itself will get a $66 million rehabilitation.
And across the street is a major renovation and expansion
of a major U.S. Post Office, which will also have court facilities.
From there, add in the extremely high-end finishes, exacting
tolerances for all materials and extensive coordination of
dozens of subcontractors and suppliers.
The end result will be a spacious six-story lobby clad in
travertine marble walls and terrazzo floors, and a tower with
Japanese stainless steel jail fronts, Rosa Verona marble for
hallway walls, and 18-foot high courtrooms with floor-to-ceiling
wood and coffered ceilings.
"I think there's a mountain of stone and a forest of
trees in here," said John Garris, project executive for
J.A. Jones Construction of New York, N.Y., general contractor
on the courthouse and post office jobs on behalf of the General
Services Administration. HLW International LLP of New York,
N.Y. and Cesar Pelli and Associates of New York, N.Y. were
the architects.
Upon its completion, the facilities will add 20 district
courtrooms, nine magistrate courtrooms, dozens of judges'
chambers, prisoner holding spaces and offices for the U.S.
Attorney's Office, U.S. Marshals' Office and other federal
judicial and law enforcement offices.
There have been significant delays and setbacks since the
project launched in late 1999. The new courthouse tower was
slated for a July 2002 completion and a $222 million cost,
but has fallen off schedule. The same has happened on post
office job, which started out as a $161 million project.
The latest tally expended for two projects, according to
FY 2003 figures from the GSA, is $461 million. Completion
is now expected in late 2004.
The complications relate in part to financial problems facing
J.A. Jones, whose parent firm, German contractor Philipp Holzmann,
fell into bankruptcy. Those problems surfaced on the courthouse
and post office projects late last year when subcontractors
were not receiving payment from J.A. Jones, according to several
sources, including Ron Berger, executive director of the Subcontractors
Trade Association.
Since the projects were being built under older federal rules
that only required a $2.5 million payment bond, many trades
and subcontractors were concerned about the missed payments
and the risk of J.A. Jones not being able to complete the
job, Berger said.
But the STA reached an agreement in April with the surety
firm, Fireman's Fund, to distribute GSA payments directly
to the subcontractors.
"They didn't take over the job," Berger said.
"All they were doing was seeing that the money collected
was disbursed to the subcontractors each month."
Karl Reichelt, regional administrator for GSA, acknowledged
the setbacks and blamed change orders, project modifications
and the status of J.A. Jones.
"With J.A. Jones and its surety company, GSA is taking
proactive, definitive steps to assure the project advances
at a healthy pace, receives the funding and leadership it
requires and reaches a successful, timely completion,"
he added.
Discussions were reportedly under way recently by Fireman's
Fund to bring in a new general contractor, Clark Construction
Group of Bethesda, Md., to guide the project through its final
stages. Current and former employees of J.A. Jones confirmed
the discussions were taking place under an arrangement in
which project staff would remain on board.
In the backdrop, tightened security measures after the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks also have had a major impact,
Garris said.
"We're interacting every day with the GSA and the marshals
and the architects to keep up with the security changes,"
he added.
Some of those involve tighter bomb-blast resistance criteria
for the exterior, which is limestone with various types of
shatterproof glass from glass manufacturer Viracon. Other
precautions involve coordination for separate elevator banks,
chambers and security paths for prisoners, judges and the
public.
Upon its completion, the courthouse will be monumental in
scope and appearance, said Elliott Locitzer, project manager
for J.A. Jones. The tolerances for a single joint stretching
across an entire floor plate had to be exact to within 1/16
in. Further complicating the task were conversions-the job
used metric measurements.
"You have to make everything dead level," Locitzer
said. "Everyone has to convert, and even slight error
would make a big difference on a job like this. It takes precision
workmanship. It's like museum quality."
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