JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The long-awaited demolition of the abandoned 18-story Berkman Plaza 2 tower on the downtown Jacksonville waterfront took its first step Tuesday when crews began prep work on the site with an eye toward removing the structure in pieces by the end of the summer.
The demolition won't be done through an implosion as has been done for some other vacant towers in downtown.
When the actual demolition starts in three to four weeks, Pece of Mind Environmental will use a specialized piece of equipment that can reach to the top of the building and cut it apart in pieces, kind of like the movie character Edward Scissorhands.
The high-reach excavators have “for all intents and purposes massive scissors at the end," company owner and president Steve Pece said Tuesday.
“These machines can reach up to the top of the building and they can cut concrete and steel and rebar, and we’ll basically demolish the building conventionally with these high-reach excavators from the top down," Pece said.
He said the timeline for how long it takes to finish the demolition will depend on various factors including the weather.
"We’re targeting three to four months for the building to be totally down and cleaned up and we’ll be off the site," he said.
Mayor Lenny Curry touted the arrival of the demolition crews at the building in a tweet that said they will be demolishing an eyesore that has stood for 13 years in downtown.
"I promised you wouldn’t recognize downtown," he said in the tweet. "The transformation continues."
Pece of Mind is doing the demolishing through a contract with the new owner of the property at 500 E. Bay St.
The building has stood vacant and abandoned since the construction of Berkman Plaza 2 as a residential tower halted after a parking garage collapsed during construction in December 2007 and killed a worker.