Community Celebrates Grand Opening of New South Dallas Government Center Designed by KAI | Texas
DALLAS, August 3, 2021 / PRNewswire / – For Dallas Fort Word-based design and construction company KAI, the new South Dallas Government Center (SDGC) project provided an opportunity to highlight this South Dallas’ rich history and culture and illuminates restorative justice through the design theme and art integration. Residents and officials of the predominantly African American community celebrated the opening of the 73,000 square meter facility on 29th of July.
Link for photos: https://kai-db.sharefile.com/d-s556de6b22e594f84a3e62498332bbea7
The event moderators included Commissioner John Wiley Price; Rev. Damien Durr, Senior Pastor, Friendship West Baptist Church; District Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins; District Commissioner No. 1 Dr. Theresa Daniel; District Commissioner No. 2 JJ Koch; Dallas County Administrator Darryl Martin; bishop Jeffrey D. Thomas, Sr., Pastor at Mt. Rose Church; sheriff Marian Brown; KAI President Darren L. James, FAIA; and Charles E. DeVoe, a representative of the Source Building Group / Satterfield & Pontikes Construction joint venture.
The new $ 22 million Located on a 12 acre campus on the corner of West Wheatland Road and Polk Street, the government center replaces and consolidates three aging facilities under one roof into one house Dallas County Tax office; Veterans affairs; County Constable; Sheriff’s Transportation Department, Shipping, and K-9 Unit; and two justice of the peace. A new 11,000 square meter Dallas County At the southern end of the campus, the Sheriff’s Training Academy was also designed and built.
“Our churches deserve this. Our last South Dallas Government Center was in Lancaster and built in the 1960s. We lived in this building until we moved into this building and it still looked like it was 1960 when you walked into the building. But our church deserves better and I feel so honored and happy that we can have this beautiful building, “said Dallas County Administrator Darryl Martin. “We started construction on this building in May 2019, People from our first department have moved in November 2020, and we are now fully occupied. “
The minority stake in the LEED Silver project exceeded all targets through the use of a 100 percent minority finance company (SIR Capital), an African American construction company (KAI) and a 50 percent minority general contractor joint venture (Source Building Group / Satterfield & Pontikes Construction .)). In addition, the construction of the building included a collaboration with the Regional Black Contractors Association and their “Second Chance” labor program, which trained men and women who were part of the criminal justice system to learn new transferable professional skills that contractors contributed to be used in the project work side? ˅.
“We began with a vision of creating an excellent institution that celebrated the legacy of the early pioneers in justice who served this community,” said KAI President Darren L. James, FAIA. “At KAI we embody the transformation of communities through integrated design and excellent building, and what we wanted to do in this center and on this campus was create a sense of place that was previously an open field.”
In the socially conscious design of the government building, the integration of art in public space played a prominent role. A gallery on the second floor displays portraits of 11 celebrities by local artists Dallas County Judges and police officers, as well as Supreme Court judges Thurgood Marshall. On the first floor is a 7 x 20 foot mosaic mural titled “Justice For All” by the artist Reginald C. Adams was integrated into the architecture immediately next to the public rotunda. Inspired by the principle of restorative justice, the wall design is anchored by a blindfolded man and woman holding the scales of justice to represent the principle of impartiality in the justice system. The Dallas Public Library has also partnered with SDGC to display photographs throughout the property depicting the lives and challenges of local African American residents.
The design features of the facility also include a public walking path around the property for mobility training, food truck parking spaces next to the collecting pond, a weight room for employees and a wellness room for nursing mothers. A 160 foot radio tower, a kennel for the K-9 unit, and a property and evidence store for the sheriff’s transportation department were also built. The dispatch center of the facility was designed as an ICC-500 2015 Storm Shelter, which can withstand winds of up to 200 MPH and remain operational even in severe weather. The facility will also serve as a backup dispatch center for the neighboring cities of Dallas and Lancaster.
About KAI Enterprises
KAI Enterprises is a national planning and construction company that offers delivery-oriented construction solutions with a diverse portfolio of experience, in-house multi-discipline experts and expertise in both planning and construction. Established in 1980, KAI has grown to become one of the largest minority owned companies in the AEC industry. For more than 40 years, KAI has been instrumental in transforming communities through its expertise in housing, commercial, K-12, higher education, healthcare, science and technology, aviation, mobility, sports and entertainment, government, water and community-based projects. KAI Enterprises consists of four different business units – KAI Design, KAI Engineering, KAI Build and KAI 360 Construction Services. To learn more about KAI, visit www.kai-db.com.
Media contact:
Jennifer Beidle
314-607-9459
jennifer@jbeidlepr.com
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SOURCE KAI Enterprises
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