JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- They say three times a charm, but in the case of the new county courthouse, hopefully safety test number 11 will do the trick.
The latest courthouse fire safety test kickstarts Friday at 4 a.m. The test is expected to last about 15 hours.
But at a news conference Thursday afternoon, officials sounded much more optimistic this time around that Turner Construction had made progress.
"They've been very careful to document their progress. They've been showing us that documentation, which gives us a lot more confidence that this time we're going to have a positive outcome on this," said Fire Chief Martin Senterfitt.
The city is also banking on good news. Karen Bowling, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, said they're already making plans for a scaled back move into the old courthouse.
"With all this cooperation from the judges, the state attorney, and the public defender, it'll allow us to outfit the courthouse at minimal expense," Bowling said.
The scaled back plan calls for only using three floors of the old courthouse and repurposing furniture.
Bowling says the new plan should cost only around $2,000 instead of the original estimate of around $26,000.
But, they'll only be able to do the scaled back plan if the new courthouse passes its test.
"As long as the stairwells and the elevator shafts pass then we can consider a temporary occupancy. If those were to fail, even that's off the table," Senterfitt said.
The goal is to have court officials begin moving in as early as next week with an official opening date of June 18.
Action News has learned Turner Construction could be held financially accountable for this delay. In the contractual agreement between Turner and the City of Jacksonville, under the "Liquidated Damages" clause, it spells out that if completion does not happen according to schedule, the design-builder (Turner), shall pay $4,000 for each day it's delayed. The total amount just must not exceed 25 percent of the design-builder's fee.
The city is still trying to figure out how much the design-builder's fee is. The Mayor's Office tells Action News Turner has not ponied up any cash yet. They are waiting till the project is fully complete before pursuing any legal claims.
