News Articles
FAMU Renovations, Hiring Underway
Crestview News Bulletin - October 14, 2011
Jobs and permanent staff members are already starting to trickle into Crestview as work proceeds in earnest on renovations of the historic Alatex Building to convert it into the Florida A&M University Rural Diversity Healthcare Center, which will offer degrees leading to a pharmacy license.
“We’ve started reaching out to the community to get resumes,” said David Delancy, president of One Day Came, the project’s construction management firm, adding that between 20 and 40 construction jobs will be available.
Delancy joined FAMU officials and dignitaries from the state, county and city of Crestview, as well as community civic and business leaders for a meet-and-greet Thursday at the Crestview Community Center. Among them was former state Sen. Durell Peaden, who initiated the project, and his successor, Sen. Greg Evers, who vowed, “You have my word I will continue Senator Peaden’s legacy.”
“The thing that really made us feel at home is when we had former employees of Alatex come out and sit in that hot sun with us to see that wonderful building transition from a factory to an educational center,” FAMU President James Ammons said.
“It was very important to me that local jobs are going to be created from this project,” Ammons continued. “Our primary goal is to get it done with local business people.”
Bradley Will, vice president of operations for main contractor Peter Brown Construction, said his company has hired several local subcontractors through the state competitive bid process. The project is well-timed given the state of the economy, he said.
“It’s not creating jobs, it’s saving jobs,” Will said.
“We believe in keeping the dollars in Okaloosa County,” Delancy added.
Project architect David Vincent, senior vice president of Panama City-based JRA Architects, agreed.
“This has been a godsend to us,” Vincent said. “Work has been slow.”
Vincent said his firm’s design will repurpose many of the wooden components salvaged from the original construction. Floor and baseboards are being refinished and the heavy wooden columns with their distinctive Y-braces will find new uses. He also praised the soundness of the historic downtown Crestview structure.
“We were shocked when we had a restoration expert look at the building,” Vincent said. “He said it was built like a tank.”
“It’s going to have a building inside the building,” Delancy said, describing the steel superstructure that will be placed inside the original red brick outer wall.
JobsPlus and Trojan Labor have been tasked with screening workers for the contractors involved on the project. Both were represented at the Thursday midday event.
“Our plan is to gather people from the local community,” Amy Freeland, a Trojan Labor representative, said.
Seven full-time professional positions have already been filled, said FAMU pharmacy school Associate Dean Dr. Myron Honeywell, including five Crestview residents. Among them is native Kristina Litrell, who will be the school’s program assistant.
“She will be responsible for making sure we get our accreditation,” Honeywell said. “We’re so happy to have her on board.”
“It is so important to us to have local people on board to make this a success,” Ammons said as he welcomed Litrell to the FAMU family.
FAMU has established temporary offices on Spring Street in downtown Crestview, within three blocks of the Alatex Building, where an advance team of university officials are already planning for the healthcare center’s opening next summer.
Crestview City Council President Charles Baugh Jr. said research by the University of West Florida Haas Center shows the school will ultimately generate 269 jobs and have between $15 and $20 million in financial impact on the community.
“It brings the hopes and aspirations for 21,000 people in the city of Crestview,” Baugh said.
FAMU director of facilities Sam Houston said the project is on schedule, with construction planned to wrap up in June 2012 and the first class beginning in August. School officials plan to admit classes of 30 students each until the school reaches its 120-student capacity, Honeywell said.
“We understand how special this project is not only to FAMU but to the city of Crestview,” Delancy said. “The more people I meet on this project and in Crestview makes me realize how important this project is.”
Copyright © 2011 Freedom Communications.
