Discovery Church Gets New East Campus Facility, H. J. High Construction Selected as Contractor
ORLANDO, Fla. (May 15, 2012) – H. J. High Construction, a 76 year old Orlando based design-build company, will begin construction in early May on Discovery Church East’s 13,000 sf house of worship. The satellite campus of Discovery Church serves its growing congregation in east Orlando and will accommodate 400 people per service.
“We’re excited to build a permanent home for our community,” says Mike Schirle, pastor of Discovery Church East. “We chose H. J. High because they are a reputable company who has helped many churches. They accommodate the church’s needs, whether large or small. H. J. High helps establish churches’ visions and does a wonderful job doing so.”
H. J. High Completes Bay Street Baptist Church’s New Facility
ORLANDO, Fla. (May 8, 2012) – H. J. High Construction announces its completion of Bay Street Baptist Church in Eustis, Fla. The new 8,500 sf building will serve as congregation members’ home for worship, education and fellowship.
“It’s just beautifully done. The new church is perfect for us and perfect for future growth,” says Donna Perman, Minister of Music. “We interviewed four firms for this project. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that H. J. High was the right choice.”
The Increased Government Burden on Our Projects
By: Robert High
May 7, 2012
When discussing the government, most people focus their frustrations on our president, Congress, or the Supreme Court. However, closer to home we’re finding an increased government burden in our industry that is quietly costing all of us an exorbitant amount of time and money.
Each municipality, county, school board and college in the state of Florida is responsible for overseeing development and construction within its jurisdiction. Oversight generally consists of plan review to ensure code compliance, issuing permits, inspections during construction, and issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. There is a statewide building code as well as regulations that are followed by each group. However, the code serves as a minimum statutory requirement and can be customized and added to at their discretion. Some of these groups outsource the oversight of this building to private companies.
Over the decades we have become accustomed to dealing with varied requirements and idiosyncrasies of each municipality. However, since the recession started in 2008 we’ve found the burden of some of these groups to be excessive and overwhelming. Some examples include:
H. J. High Completes Renovations to Brevard Community College
ORLANDO, Fla. (May 3, 2012) – H. J. High Construction announces the completion of renovations to Brevard Community College’s Carver Administration Building at its Cocoa Campus. The project consisted of a total of 37,905 sf of interior renovations making the renovated Carver Building the new campus focal point.
“H. J. High was willing to go the extra mile to ensure our needs were met while maintaining the integrity of the college’s standards,” says Glenn Burgess, facilities planner, Brevard Community College.
PPP’s – Florida’s Past and Future
By: Doug Storer
April 2012
Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) are once again at the forefront of the debate for new solutions to delivering Florida’s much-needed and underfunded public facilities and infrastructure. The 2012 Florida Legislature debated legislation that would serve to encourage the alternative development, financing and ownership of public facilities and infrastructure only to let the PPP bill die in the final days of the session.
This runs contrary to a national trend to encourage PPP projects through enabling legislation. “There has been a remarkable increase in interest in PPPs with a nearly 30% increase (from 24 to 31 states) in state legislatures passing PPP statutes in just the last two years,” according to Richard Norment, Executive Director, National Council for Public-Private Partnerships.
Camping for a Cause
April 2012
For the second straight year the employees of H. J. High went “charity camping” at Quest’s Camp Thunderbird in Apopka. The project this year was designing and building a pavilion on the observation deck overlooking the lake for the camp’s physical and behavioral challenged summer campers. Since 1969 Quest’s Camp Thunderbird has been dedicated to providing a real summer camp experience for people with special needs.
Under the direction of H. J. High’s chief estimator and camper at heart Randy Carroll a plan was designed, materials were purchased and the H. J. High campers cut, hoisted and assembled a beautiful new lakeside observation platform roof structure. For those less crafty, we also helped by adding a new coat of paint to the restroom facilities in one of the many buildings on site and cleaned and organized various areas in need of some TLC. It was a hot spring day, but our team managed to beat the heat and finish our projects with a smile.