'Changing the skyline of our great city': Docking demolition nears completion in Topeka
The days are numbered on what's left of the Docking State Office Building before the demolition is complete and the rebuild begins.
"We're right on track for Christmas day to have the building all the way down to grade," Frank Burnam, deputy secretary of operations for the Kansas Department of Administration, said late last month. "The new steel will show up the second week of January, and we will go vertical by the end of January.
"As part of that process, we intend to have a kind of groundbreaking ceremony as we begin to go vertical. We will certainly make sure that the members of this team or committee are invited to participate in that, because this is again a big step as we move forward with our downtown and our Capitol complex and changing the skyline of our great city."
New Docking Building in on target to open in June 2025
The project also remains on budget with the contractor, Hutton Construction, and on target for occupancy of the building in June 2025.
In addition to various amenities and uses, the rebuilt Docking will have about 60,000 square feet of office space for state agencies.
"We are in conversations with agencies now that we have selected to be part of this new space," Burnam told the Shawnee County delegation of lawmakers. "We're not disclosing right now who those agencies are."
South of Docking, the new laboratory for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is on target for occupancy in December 2024.
Burnam said the construction has made great progress.
Construction will continue through winter at new KDHE laboratory
"A lot of materials are being fabricated off site and brought in and then put into place, which has really sped up the construction of that facility," he said. "We are now fully enclosed with the heat on, so it'll allow us to work through the winter.
That building is at the corner of S.W. 11th St. and S.W. Topeka Blvd. and replaces an aging facility at Forbes Field.
"We're doing very well on that project, and that's really changed the scenery down on that corner," Burnam said.
More: After Docking demolition rubble was dumped in Kansas River, here's what the state says
More: Construction of this new state of Kansas building in downtown Topeka is on time and budget
Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka Docking building demolition nears start of new construction
