Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 21, 1991 TAG: 9104190722
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY/ BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The final installation of the steel in the structure is expected to be done May 30, according to the building's contractor, Hardin Construction Group Inc. of Atlanta.
The NS building is due to be completed by mid-April 1992.
Since the ground breaking on Oct. 15, the building construction has moved rapidly in what is called "fast track," or "phased construction." That means some elements of the building are being designed at the same time that other phases are being built.
Robert Smith, president of Hardin, in written responses to the newspaper's questions said his company has been using the phased method since the late 1960s.
Like the nearby Dominion Tower project, Norfolk Southern's new building has been the object of controversy over the perceived exclusion of local suppliers and labor and whether union contractors were avoided. Norfolk Southern referred construction questions to Hardin, which supplied information in writing only to a list of questions, also in writing.
The NS building is 204,000 square feet and 11 stories, although the top floor will house only mechanical equipment. Original plans had called for an 11th floor of office space with a penthouse for the mechanicals.
NS decided it didn't need the extra floor of office space, said NS spokesman Don Piedmont.
The NS building, on a $1.4 million tract at the corner of Franklin and Williamson roads, is to house employees working now in the railroad's general offices across North Jefferson Street from the Hotel Roanoke and in the Colonial Arms building on South Jefferson.
Hardin worked with Norfolk Southern in 1975 on the railroad's Roanoke computer center. It also has other Virginia projects currently, in Charlottesville, Richmond and Norfolk.
Although the general contractor is from out-of-town, as are most of the 22 subcontractors working on the project, the Hardin president said 70 percent of the construction dollars are "impacting the Roanoke Valley economy."
The project is being directed by Barry Compton out of the Atlanta offices, but the assistant project manager, Mark Sambol, and superintendent Ricky Pruitt are living in Roanoke.
There will be about 130 workers on the site when both interior and exterior work is under way, the company said.
Roanoke Valley union leaders have voiced complaints in recent months that two major local projects - the NS building and Dominion Tower - were being done by non-union contractors, and Hardin was asked what percentage of its work force was hired locally.
Smith said supervisory personnel were relocated to Roanoke, but other operating employees were hired locally.
Also, he pointed out that two "of the most significant architectural elements of the building are being supplied or crafted by Virginia subcontractors." The Buckingham, Va., slate roof is being supplied by I.N. McNeil Roofing of Roanoke, and the plaster domed ceilings that will be a focus of the entrance lobby are being crafted by H.F. Interiors of Roanoke.
Smith said Hardin was open to bids from both union and non-union subcontractors. Elevators, he noted, are being supplied by a union contractor, Dover Elevator Co. of Greensboro, N.C. Otis Elevator of Roanoke is the sole union contractor on the Dominion Tower project.
by CNB