By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Central Bank yesterday said it was asked to extend the demolition work for its new headquarters to also include the take-down of the General Post Office building across the street.

Ian Fernander, the banking industry’s capital development manager, said the request to also demolish the long-standing East Hill Street landmark came after it received all the approvals for the Royal Victoria Gardens premises across the street.

The latter will be the site for its new headquarters building, which is viewed as another key component in downtown Nassau’s revitalisation, with Mr Fernander disclosing that Woslee Construction was awarded the demolition contract for both properties because its bid came in at “the lower end” of the $2m to $12m offer range.

Ashley Glinton, Woslee Construction’s managing director, said it had decided not to implode either building but instead demolish them with heavy equipment.

Revealing that the General Post Office’s height was a key factor in this decision, he added: “There is no implosion. The building did not warrant an implosion just because of the height of it. So we priced it as straightforward demolition, using excavators and heavy, specialised equipment to take it down and that’s what’s going on right now.”

The lower Post Office building at the eastern end of East Hill Street is presently being demolished, with the taller structure next. Mr Glinton said his company has a “high reach excavator” that can extend up to 100 feet, with jaws on the end of it, to “crunch down” the old building.

He added: “As each floor collapses upon itself and the building comes down, we would haul it away. So that’s pretty much the process, as simplified as I can make it at this particular point.

“When we submitted the bid, the first process was a cost-related item, and when we put our bid together, we looked at the most efficient and most effective way to either build a building or take down a building.

“Due to the various factors that would have been involved in imploding the building, we decided to go with the excavators. To implode a building is a completely different process. You would have to cordon off various street blocks in order to do that sort of demolition,” Mr Glinton continued.

“Based on the site item and the current structure, that’s why we decided to go with excavating the building or using excavators instead of imploding. It’s much more efficient. There’s much less environmental issues that have to be dealt with, and from a cost perspective it’s much less.”

The Royal Victoria Gardens will host the Central Bank’s new headquarters, while the General Post Office is being demolished to make way for the Supreme Court building.

Stacey Moultrie, the Central Bank’s environmental impact specialist, said the old Post Office building is the first to be torn down under the recently passed Environmental Planning and Protection Act.

She added: “The project actually started before that Act came into force. We were already in discussions with the BEST (Bahamas Environment, Science & Technology) Commission for the need to do an EIA (economic impact assessment) and EMP (environmental management plan), and I guess the project has the honour of being the first project ever to receive a certificate of environmental clearance in the country.”

O’Neil Moss, project manager at Woslee Construction, and leader of the demolition exercises, said: “In terms of the timeline for the demolition, we approach the project in two phases. The first phase would be the Post Office and we are looking at an anticipated completion date of towards the end of January 2021.

“Once we’re done with that we have clear up the site. We will then mobilise to the Royal Victoria Gardens to commence the demolition of the buildings selected to be demolish on that site. The timeline for that demolition to be wrapped up and completed would be right around the first week of March 2021.”