Daily Record Financial News &
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 202 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
What Ameris Bank looks like in sky
Ameris Bank will top Riverplace Tower.
Ameris Bank intends to become the fourth signature name to marquee the Downtown Southbank building known as Riverplace Tower. Now we know what it will look like. The Downtown Development Review Board is scheduled to vote on final approval Thursday for a special sign exception to hang the Ameris Bank signs on the north and south facades of the tower. It included a rendering of the
City, JTA split $1.8M for ferry repairs
signage in its agenda packet. Ameris Bank is moving its executive headquarters from Moultrie, Ga., into 35,000 square feet within the building at 1301 Riverplace Blvd. It will be the fourth name to headline the structure, which started as the Gulf Life Tower from 1967-91. The 28-story structure served as the SouthTrust Building from 1991-2005 and then as a Wachovia Bank building from 2005-12. The cost of the signage is more
than $410,000. The project should start by Oct. 15 and be completed by Dec. 1. When the building was completed in 1967, it was the tallest pre-cast post-tensioned concrete structure in the world until 2002. It was Florida’s tallest building
until One Biscayne Tower was built in 1972 in Miami. And it was Jacksonville’s tallest building until the Independent Life Building, now known as Wells Fargo Center, was built in 1974. Ameris Bank wants to install two sets of internally illuminated main identity channel letters, not to exceed 1,125 square feet of space each. That’s less than the Wachovia and Gulf Life signs used. Ameris is using two sides of the building, Mathis continued on Page A-2
The next generation
Authority to take over March 31
Public
A P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft attached to Patrol Squadron 16 at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
P-8A Poseidon followed by unmanned Triton By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Photo by Max Marbut
After months of talks over terms of a deal, an agreement to effectively hand over operating the St. Johns River ferry to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority is in place. It won’t be by the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year as some had hoped. Instead, the transfer will be completed by March 31. That’s the day before the start of the city’s third quarter and a time that should be well after a scheduled haul-out for a required inspection and repairs. Those repairs, an estimated $1.8 million, are being evenly split between the city and JTA. The service that provides a link between Mayport and Heckscher Drive will be out of commission during December and the first part of January, a period that typically is the lowest ridership of the year. During that time, the $1.8 million will go toward a Coast Guard inspection and repairs. While the vessel is out of the water, grants worth $5 million will cover needed repairs to the slip wall. Timing just didn’t work out for the quick transfer before the haul-out — both the City Council and JTA board of directors would have had to sign off on the transfer agreement in September. “That was unlikely,” said council member John Crescimbeni, chair of the St. Johns River Ferry Commission. The commission has been operating the ferry since 2012, when the Jacksonville Port Authority turned the service over to the city. Now, it’s the city that will turn it over to the JTA. In addition to splitting maintenance costs and the date, the two sides agreed on a couple of other details at a Monday meeting. Instead of any possible savings being split between the two entities, the money will go toward slip wall and fender repairs. The city also will be responsible for cost overruns over the $1.8 million — something causing Crescimbeni some hesitancy. Ferry continued on Page A-3
Photo provided by U.S. Navy
By David Chapman Staff Writer
Rotary Club of Jacksonville President John Fryer and U.S. Navy Capt. Anthony Corapi, commanding officer of Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 11 at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
legal notices begin on page
A-10
U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft have been in the sky over Jacksonville for more than 50 years and that won’t change in the foreseeable future. As the Navy transitions from its P3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft to the new P-8A Poseidon, Naval Air Station Jacksonville remains the only antisubmarine warfare base on the East Coast. Aircraft flying into and out of the base along the St. Johns River — and for the next few months, Cecil Airport during a $52 million renovation of the runways at NAS Jacksonville — is just part of the story. While the primary mission of the P-3 and P-8A is hunting enemy submarines, the Jacksonville-based air crews have a global mission, said Capt. Anthony Corapi, commanding officer of Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 11. “We have national and worldwide strategic impact,” he said Monday to the Rotary Club of Jacksonville. In addition to constant surveillance of the waters east of the United States, air crews from Jacksonville squadrons also are deployed to monitor the escalating tension in North and South Korea and searching for seagoing drug smugglers in Central American waters. Rotary continued on Page A-2
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