JACKSONVILLE, Alabama, April 18, 2018 — Turner Construction Company’s Huntsville office recently celebrated the topping out of the 102,000-square-foot Fitness and Wellness Center at Jacksonville State University (JSU). The topping out event signifies that construction of the building’s steel infrastructure has reached its highest point. The celebration took place the day after students returned back to school for classes following the recent tornado that damaged parts of the campus. The construction site was not damaged.

The $32 million building, located on the southeast corner of the JSU campus, next to Kennamer Hall and Pelham Road, will house four gymnasiums, a weight and fitness area, a wellness center, an elevated walking track, racquetball courts, a small leisure pool and whirlpool, a 40+ foot climbing wall, group exercise studios and locker rooms, as well as a lounge area where students can hang out between classes. Turner is collaborating on the project with architect Moody Nolan and civil engineer 4Site.

Key players in the project gave opening remarks and joined the 100+ construction workers on the project in signing a beam that was later raised and attached to the building’s steel frame. Those who made remarks included:

“In addition to improving the overall campus experience for JSU students, the new Fitness and Wellness Center will allow us to inaugurate new student developmental programs,” said Charles Lewis, Vice President for University Advancement at Jacksonville State University and Executive Director of the JSU Foundation. “Turner’s organizational expertise will continue to be crucial both in managing this project’s short timeline and overcoming the logistical challenges of working on an active college campus.”

On April 10th, 2018, a tour of the Fitness and Wellness Center was given alongside the Topping Off Ceremony. The Topping Off Ceremony is a celebration of completing the first phase of work and will culminate in the placement of the last steel beam at the top of the structure. All those present signed the beam before it was placed. (Matthew Reynolds, JSU Photographer)

“Turner has a long history of managing similarly complex, time-sensitive projects, so this is the perfect showcase of what our company can do,” said Lee Holland, Project Executive with Turner/Huntsville. “We look forward to delivering this leading-edge facility, which will serve JSU students for years to come.”

In addition to celebrating the project’s topping out, the event honored the workers for reaching a milestone of 25,000 safe man-hours, which means there has been no lost-time injury or accident for 25,000 hours, an outstanding performance.

“At Turner, people are our priority, which means safety is crucial on our job sites,” Holland added. “Our workers and subcontractors have been well aligned with our safety vision from the start of this project, which is evident today as we celebrate this significant safety milestone.”

The project operates under Turner’s Building L.I.F.E® (Living Injury Free Every Day) approach, which strives to eliminate all worksite incidents through pre-planning construction activities, mandatory safety inspections and training programs.

Construction of the new Fitness and Wellness Center is slated for completion in January 2019.

About Turner Construction/Huntsville

Turner is a North America-based, international construction services company. Turner has more than 60 years of experience working in Huntsville. Since opening its office in the city in 1955, Turner Construction/Huntsville has played a significant role in the Huntsville community. Its Huntsville resume includes such iconic buildings as the Davidson Center for Space Exploration and its freestanding Saturn V rocket, the Von Braun Center, the Shelby Center at The University of Alabama – Huntsville, Raytheon, the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce and the Huntsville Public Library. Its clients include City of Huntsville, USACE – Redstone, State of Alabama, City of Madison and Limestone County. Learn more at www.turnerconstruction.com or follow Turner on Twitter at @TurnerAlabama.