Work begins on making First National safer
Crews are scaling the outside of First National Center as the $287 million restoration of the iconic 1931 tower turns toward repairing and securing 10,500 limestone panels.
The extent of repairs needed on the exterior of the tower was not known until panels came crashing down from the 26 th floor in January 2018. When it opens in late 2021, the tower will be home to 193 upscale apartments and a 146room boutique hotel
“The original plan four years ago was we were going to repair and clean every square inch outside the building,” said Gary Brooks, who is re developing the building with partner Charlie Nicholas. “What we didn't know until the stones fell was we had problems the engineers couldn't detect.”
Some of the crews are scaling the tower as they caulk and bolt the panels while scaffolding surrounds the top floors of the 33-story building. Brooks said the repairs require drilling the panels back with 35,000 bolts, a cost not anticipated during initial planning.
“As we uncovered the issues with the stones falling, it was really one of the greatest blessings in the entire project,” Brooks said. “It caused us to change the interior design and how we dealt with insulation.”
Water was getting underneath the panel sand they were ultimately going to start crashing down, so the early timing of the panels falling during the redevelopment was seen as a plus over happening when the tower was still occupied or when the renovation was complete.
“They' re doing pointing (repair of mortar joints) and caulking on every single stone ,” Brooks said .“You have to make sure no water ever penetrates it again.”
The exterior scaffolding is from the 26th to 33rd floors and is being used for additional repairs needed on the top floors where the Beacon Club was located until it moved in 1993.
“The Beacon Club couldn't stop water from leaking into the upper floors,” Brooks said. “It has gutters built into the roof and there was no way to fix them once they broke. So we're having to take those out, put in new guttering as well as repair glass and framing on the 31st floor.”
Unlike much of the tower where no expense was spared, the Beacon Club windows were “cheaply done,” Brooks said.
“We will never touch those upper floors again,” Brooks said. “So anything that will be difficult or impossible to do once it's occupied has to be done now. Because once it opens, you're open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the building never closes again.”