Construction resumes for CFO headquarters

As part of the rebuilding process, Heidemann Associates has been brought in as an independent third-party observer, looking over both the plans and the construction of the new facility at 425 E. Trafficway.

Brian Fogle, head of the Great Southern Community Development Corp., which is funding the project, said the cost to CFO will not change.

“The additional expenses from both the cleanup and the accident are covered by insurance,” Fogle said, adding that Great Southern, general contractor Morelock-Ross and architect Hood-Rich are sharing the expense of the third-party engineering firm. “We will not be passing those along to Community Foundation.”

Construction contractors say the design of the $1.3 million project also will remain basically unchanged.

“The foundation and floor slab are all salvageable. The floor needs some patching, but it’s basically undamaged. The masonry for the elevator is virtually undamaged. The structural steel for the front of the building and the stairways was undamaged, though there may be some slight repairs needed,” said Paul Black of Hood-Rich Inc., which served as architect and engineer. “The supplemental plans amount to an extensive amount of detail, but the same basic design approach remains unchanged.”

Cause and effects

Investigations into the collapse are ongoing, though Fogle said there is no pending litigation and none is expected. All the companies involved have agreed that the collapse of the building was caused by wall failure.

“What we have also learned is that there are several possible contributing factors to that failure,” Fogle said. “Since it’s really hard to recreate what happened, no one has been able to decide what the sequence of events was, but we’re confident that we’ve identified every possible contributing cause to address going forward.”

Meanwhile, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration continues its investigation of working condition violations.

“We were down there to see if there were any violations of OSHA standards, and we have six months if we plan to issue any citations,” said Regional Director Manuel Olmedo. “We’re looking at it from the perspective of employee safety, and fortunately there weren’t any serious injuries. We’re still looking at the issues and determining whether any citations would be warranted.”

Moving on, looking back

The original completion date for the new building was supposed to be next month. That has moved to the end of the year, according to Kenny Ross of Morelock-Ross Builders.

“(The delay) doesn’t have any cost impact, though it can certainly have some scheduling impact, due to the fall and early winter weather,” he said.

Fogle said those involved are proceeding cautiously.

“From our standpoint, we didn’t want to move forward, nor did our partners, until we were all very confident that it was going to be the project we envisioned,” he said. “It was a very unfortunate accident, and we have lost some time. Fortunately, CFO is in a situation where they have some flexibility in their lease.”

CFO currently leases space in Hammons Tower, 901 E. St. Louis. Its new home, at 10,000 square feet, will be considerably larger.

Ross said the situation can serve as a reminder to his and other businesses in the construction industry.

“We’ve learned that there is risk in this business, and even with the precautions that we take every day, accidents can still happen,” he said. “It reminds us of how important it is to do the best we can. We’ve been reminded that we need to really be aware of everything that we’re doing on a day-to-day basis.”

Jack Hood of Hood-Rich feels confident moving forward.

“We’ve totally looked at the job from beginning to end and probably gone beyond what normally is done in plans, so there’s no misunderstanding between our plans and the contractor,” he said.