Topping out of West Palm Beach Station. Photo: courtesy of Brightline.
Brightline, the future passenger rail service that will connect Fort Lauderdale to Miami and West Palm Beach, has held a “topping out” ceremony to mark the completion of its station structure in West Palm Beach, signaling a shift toward interior outfitting and finishing efforts.
Attending the ceremony were city and county commissioners, community leaders and representatives from Brightline and Moss & Associates, the construction company that is building the station. Community officials first signed and then helped raise the Brightline flag, alongside the American and Moss & Associates flags at the ceremony.
“We are thrilled to reach another important milestone and appreciate the continued support and excitement for Brightline from officials and community leaders in West Palm Beach,” said Brightline President Mike Reininger. “We continue to progress at a rapid pace on the development of our stations and trains and look forward to a more connected South Florida that has a new and brighter transportation alternative starting next summer.”
The V columns for the station that flank the ground floor and upper-level lobby have been erected and installed, and work will now commence on the installation of the platform canopy foundations, platform structure, roofing, exterior glazing and interior partitions.
“It is a privilege for Moss and Associates to be the contractor for a facility that will have such a positive dramatic impact on travel in South Florida,” remarked Bob Moss, chairman and CEO of Moss & Associates. “Those citizens that live here should all appreciate the fact that Brightline is paying 100 percent of all cost to provide this terrific transportation option to reduce the traffic and delay on Interstate 95. I am thankful for the leadership of Mike Reininger, a very competent executive that I have known and worked with for over 25 years.”
The downtown West Palm Beach station is located between S. Rosemary and S. Quadrille, east and west, and between Datura Street and Evernia Street, north and south. Work continues to progress in anticipation of the Brightline express train service launch in mid-2017.