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State Department building beats construction deadline
By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer
Charleston-based Hightower Construction Co. recently completed the 100,000-square-foot addition to the U.S. State Department complex on the former Navy base.
Begun 16 months ago, the project was completed March 29—more than two weeks ahead of schedule.
“We went 180,000 man hours without anyone getting hurt bad enough to miss work,” says Jamie Kilgallen, executive director of Hightower’s industrial and governmental projects.
The State Department put the U.S. Navy in charge of the $13 million project, and the Navy hired Hightower Construction. Project manager Robert Sorenson of the Navy attributes the successful job to strong planning and teamwork. “It was about getting the entire team to buy into the vision, including the subcontractors,” he says.
Charleston architecture firm Glick/Boehm & Assoc. designed the new building.
The State Department is consolidating nearly all of its global financial services operations in the new building, which will house about 300 people. The facility includes a 3,000-square-foot auditorium, a cafeteria, a courtyard, a fitness center, a health unit with examination rooms, a videoconference center and other amenities.
State Department employees began moving into the new facility immediately after completion.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the building will be held in August.
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