By Rod Duren, Central Mississippi/Golden Triangle
A Tupelo, Miss.-based construction firm is among the leading companies that could be part of a team awarded to build Mobile, Ala.’s new $252M airport terminal at the Mobile Aeroplex downtown at the former Brookley Air Force Base, and adjacent to passenger jet manufacturer Airbus.
The current airport serving the Mobile region has been located in the far western section of the county since before the AFB closed in the 1960s by President Johnson in a one-man base closure commission because Alabama didn’t vote for him in (the AuH2O) election in ‘64. The base closed in 1969.
Tupelo-based JESCO, Inc., subsidiary of The Yates Companies Inc., is in a joint venture with Volkert as part of a team the Mobile Airport Authority (MAA) selected Nov. 30, according to media reports, to be lead contractor for the new 8-gate terminal and parking garage within an already-established industrial and business park east off I-10, south of downtown.
The Mobile community had a major opportunity to establish a downtown airport after the AFB closed in the late 1960s, but went west. Now, six decades later, they’re coming to their senses.
MAA Prez Chris Curry will negotiate a price with the firms within 60 days and make a final proposal to MAA for the “transformational” project. Project completion is tentatively set for Fall 2024, according to AL.com.
The JESCO/Yates/Volkert team – from Mobile & Montgomery-based offices – was the No. 1 choice of five applicants to the MAA project. That team scored the highest in an MAA assessment laid out for the project, according to Curry via AL.com.
Curry called JESCO/Yates/Volker among MAA’s on-call consultants that have worked small airport system for about 15 years.
Other companies involved include minority-owned Dortch, Figures & Sons, Inc.; AVCON, Inc.; FSB; HOK; and the Sunland Group., all of Mobile.
In a ‘State of the City,’ address this week, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson referenced the contracts proclaiming his wish to “build it with no debt” through city, county, state and federal government contributions.
The Mobile council voted in October to transfer $30M in general fund reserves to provide the first financial commitment to the project.
For years, Mobile has been trying to establish the city’s first-ever “international” airport downtown - next to Airbus’ largest North American manufacturing operations. In 2019, the West Mobile airport was the nation’s 165th busiest with 328,000 passengers over the year.
The objective, say officials, is to compete with Pensacola (Fla.) and Gulfport-Biloxi (Miss.) airports for direct flights, low fares, with low-cost carriers.
The 75-year-old Mississippi-founded JESCO company has annual sales between $180M-$200M. JESCO has offices in Tupelo and Fulton, Miss; Mobile and Montgomery, Ala.; and Memphis, and employs about 750. Since 1999, JESCO has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Yates Companies, a perennial Engineering News Record Top 25 Contractor.
In recent years, JESCO’s Mobile office wrapped up a landmark project to build an on-campus football stadium for the University of South Alabama. Hancock Whitney Stadium is a 25,000 fan-capacity facility located on USA’s campus in West Mobile.
(Editor’s Note: This post is the next blog of 2021 for the Central Mississippi/Golden Triangle region. In deference to the Ole Miss, ‘Miz Sippi’ is a periodic post throughout the month(s) ahead. Invitations are open to businesses and individuals on send input, improve the blog and grow business product(s) here. Business ads are also available upon request via gcmilbiz@gmail.com.)
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