Back to the past
Entergy 'lifeboat' protected as Jackson building restored

By Angelle Bergeron

The tallest crane in downtown Jackson is perched directly beneath an old Mississippi Power & Light logo that graces the front of the Electric Building on Pearl Street.

The 200-ton crawler crane, which is positioned to stay clear of nearby traffic, is being used in a $12.6 million restoration project that will bring Jackson's Electric Building back to its 1927 glory.

It's the latest project by Harrell Contracting Group of Ridgeland, Miss.

In late December the crane's 145 ft. of boom began erecting steel on the rear side of the building, which was originally called the Lampton Building and has spent most of its life as home to the power providers of the Southeast.

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When Entergy decided to reconsolidate its local offices, the old building seemed too much of a challenge for the power company.

"They had made the decision they didn't want to renovate, so they put the building on the market," said Ted Duckworth, owner of Jackson-based Duckworth Realty. "It looked like an interesting project and we didn't want to see the building go dark."

Even though Duckworth had never embarked on a historic restoration project, he had several new acquisitions in the downtown area and thought the tax incentives for historic structures were too good to pass up.

"We simultaneously acquired the property and started construction last September," Duckworth said.

When complete, the 10-story building will house retail space on the first floor, two floors of office space, all of Entergy's offices (floors four through eight) and luxury apartments on the top two levels.

"It was very complicated assembling the deal, but finding the right tenant mix for the retail space will be the biggest challenge," Duckworth said.

Finding the right contractor was easier.

"Harrell had worked hard on two similar historic renovations in the downtown area, so I knew they could do the project," Duckworth added.

Harrell, which does about $80 million annually, is heavily involved in renovation/restorations all over the Southeast.

In August Harrell began value-engineering work with Duckworth and architect Johnson, Bailey, Henderson, McNeel of Jackson. The contractor began the demolition after the owner acquired the property.

Harrell's contract includes complete demolition of the interior space, exterior restoration and construction of a new core. The project should be completed by the third quarter of 2005, said Tom Black, Harrell vice president.

The original poured-in-place concrete structure, which is still structurally sound, had undergone two renovations in its history. In 1966, a steel structure was added on the east wing and in the 1950s the "U" of the building was filled in from floors one through four and the structure was "modernized" by covering parts of the exterior and first floor interior with granite.

"The materials were nice, but they weren't historic," said architect Richard McNeel. "Also, nothing met code. We had to create a new core for the building with restrooms and fire stairs."

Removing the granite was a unique challenge, said Brian Corley, project engineer for Harrell.

"The whole first floor - columns, walls and floors - was covered in 2-in.-thick granite," he said. "Some of the pieces were 4-by-6-ft. and about 750 lbs."

Harrell will be infilling the remaining U-portion of the building to add the necessary core and transform it into a rectangle.

"The existing roof level over the 1950s infill area (on the fifth floor) comes off, and that's where our new structural steel goes," Corley said.

In November, Harrell began the tedious job of excavating the existing columns in the U-area so the concrete footings and columns could be enlarged to support the additional load. The 3- by 3-ft. footings were enlarged to 8 by 8 ft. and the 14- by 14-in. columns were expanded to 26 by 26 in. using epoxy, new rebar and concrete.

Erecting the structural steel will require a lot of finesse.

"The back side of this building is about 10 ft. from St. Andrew's Cathedral and the governor's mansion is across the street from there," Corley said. "We're going to operate the crane by radio and erect the steel from the crane in the front of the building. The operator can't see a thing when he's doing it."

Jackson-based Bracken Construction will perform the steel erection.

During the demolition and construction, Harrell has strict orders to ensure the safety of Entergy's main communications hub on the seventh floor.

"It's called the 'lifeboat,'" Black said. That's the nickname given the entire communication network for the southeast region, and Harrell has been repeatedly reminded of its significance.

"We can't shut it down," Corley said. "It would cost about $1,000 per millisecond of lost time."

The hub occupies about 20 percent of the seventh floor and is fed by a protected chase of pipes and wires that runs from the basement, Black said. Harrell has waterproofed the area and introduced 400 cu. ft. per minute of positive air pressure to keep out dust.

Demolition and the core addition were complete by the end of December and Harrell begins working on interior and exterior finishes this month.

To receive tax credits the owner had to restore several exterior components from the building's original period and ensure modern conveniences on the interior.

"We were downtown with limited site space, taking a 1920s building and upgrading it without removing that historic flavor," McNeel said.

Using original construction drawings, old post cards and photographs, the architect was able to piece together certain elements that needed to be addressed.

"The building had been reglazed without a historic window design and it looked bad," McNeel said. Jackson-based Creative Windows is installing a period replica.

Much of the original terra cotta decorative work on the first three floors had been shaved off and what remained was in dire need of refurbishing. Fort Worth-based Casting Designs Inc. is manufacturing copings, urns, door surrounds and rope moldings of glass fiber reinforced concrete that look like terra cotta.

Western Waterproofing Co. of America of Grand Prairie, Texas, is installing the new finishes and refurbishing the existing terra cotta. The subcontractor will do various other masonry restorations on the building.

On the interior, the 10-ft. floor-to-floor space made it difficult to include the latest telecommunications and cooling systems.

"Modern buildings are closer to 13, 14, even 15 ft.," McNeel said. "That dimension gives you room for ductwork and all kinds of stuff this building didn't have. It was a fun challenge."

The architect suggested a perimeter fan coil unit system, which eliminated the need for ductwork. Telecommunications and data are housed in the 2.5-in. raised floor that was created in all of the office areas.

"Floors nine and 10 have 15-in. raised floors to facilitate plumbing in those areas (for apartments)," McNeel said.