State Street Garage Update- March 14, 2013

The first phase of work on the State Street Garage has now been completed and the crane has successfully relocated to S. Central Street near the intersection with Clinch Avenue. The Contractor is having repair issues with the crane in the new location but we hope to have that resolved soon. When we resume work, once again one half of the garage will be unavailable for parking.
Please pay close attention to the detours and flaggers. All of the entrances and exits to the garage should be open most of the time. State Street has reopened and at least one lane of both Clinch Avenue and Union Avenue should be open most of the time. Please let everyone know that access to Neyland Drive is not possible via S.Central Street during these hours.
The closure is in place until April 15.
One lane of S. Central will be opened on nights and on weekends, unless work is scheduled for an occasional Saturday.

The plan is to bring in a smaller crane the first week of April to set the new overpass into place off of State Street and begin the final phase of construction.
There have certainly been some issues so far but no more so than occurs with most projects and our Contractor( Rentenbach Constructors) has done a great job in resolving all of the issues I think.
Also the patience and understanding of the folks we work with there has been greatly appreciated.
The additional parking and the new walkway to S. Gay Street from the Garage will be a wonderful enhancement to our Downtown.

It seems that every building Downtown is getting a new roof soon which means temporary road closures. Gay Street along the 400 block will likely be closed Sunday March 24 and again on Sunday March 31 for about four hours to load and unload roofing materials for the Phoenix Building. We will send out a notice when we get the exact timing. Also the Burwell Building near Clinch Avenue will be getting a new roof in the next few weeks so a truck will be in that area as well. At some point this year the Tennessee Theatre is also scheduled for a new roof and the Presbyterian Church on State Street is in process with a roof project now.

Saint Patrick's Day celebrations are this weekend all over Downtown and the first week of April will bring us the beginning of the wonderful Dogwood Arts Festival.
Please plan to join us Downtown if you can.
As always thanks for your interest.

State Street Garage Update- March 2, 2013

Due to some logistic issues the Contractor will not have State Street reopened until  Monday, March 11, 2013. Union Avenue will now be closed on Friday, March 8, 2013 for the transition of the crane down to S. Central Street. S. Central Street closure will then begin on Monday, March 11, 2013.
This delay of our schedule will allow us to reopen the garage to an additional; 250 spaces at least for a little while. Those of you who have been involved in construction know that even with the best planning, issues arise almost hourly which effect the timing.

Thanks for your patience.

State Street Garage Update- March 1, 2013

The week of March 4, 2013 will bring big changes in our progress to date. All of the precast concrete for the western part of the garage should be in place so the Contractor can begin the process of moving the crane from State Street to S. Central Street. This move will necessitate closing Union Avenue on Tuesday March 5, 2013 and possibly, March 6 while the crane makes the move to the intersection of S. Central Street and Clinch Avenue to begin that phase of work. State Street will be reopened during the day along with the entrance and exit to the garage along State Street.
S. Central Street will be closed at Union Avenue during the day until approximately April 15 to finish up the remaining section of the garage. As we did on State Street, one lane will be open on nights and on weekends unless the crane is working that day.
 Union Avenue will be open for detour during this period. All entrances and exits for the Garage including State Street will be open most of the time.
As the crane moves closer to the Union Avenue intersection, there will be a point in time where both Union Avenue and S. Central Street will be closed. The detour off of S. Central Street at that time will be at Commerce Street north of the intersection.
There is no doubt that this will be a difficult area to travel in for those traversing south at that time particularly for those who use S. Central Street to access Neyland Drive. Please help us get the word out to those folks to use James White Parkway or Hall of Fame Drive for this period of time.

Rentenbach Constructors continues to make good progress using the precast concrete sections.

The new transformer (see below)  is now in place and is operational with minimal disruption. KUB along with Massey Electric and Rentenbach folks did a great job in coordinating this complicated work with their customers, particularly Regal Entertainment.

Please remember First Friday is tonight so bundle up and come down to help support our Art Community.

Also don't forget that tomorrow is our annual Mardi Growl Parade beginning in the morning from 11-2. Proceeds from the event go to the Young -Williams Animal Center and the City of Knoxville.

Also beginning next week is the Broadway show "Mary Poppins" at the Tennessee Theater with a large cast and crew.

Thanks for your interest in Downtown Knoxville and in the State Street Garage Expansion project.