Stellar has completed its renovation and expansion of the Beaver Street Fisheries, Inc. (BSF) seafood packaging facility in Jacksonville, Fla. The wholesale seafood and meat supplier engaged Stellar to convert a 12,000 sq.-ft. freezer into a seafood processing and packaging facility expansion on the BSF campus just west of downtown. Additionally, Stellar converted a portion of another freezer into cooler space for storing and tempering product to support BSF's expanded processing capacity. Work on the $4.9 million design-build project started in Spring 2021.

Stellar crews completely gutted the existing 12,000 sq.-ft. freezer space and installed a new sloped concrete floor slab with nearly two dozen floor drains, new insulated metal panel (IMP) walls and ceilings, new electrical wiring, switchgear and energy-efficient lighting, new plumbing and a new replacement fire sprinkler system. Stellar also designed and installed a 1,700 sq.-ft. processing support freezer and updated multi-temperature ammonia refrigeration system.

“Since this structure was built more than half a century ago, along with converting its use, there were a number of opportunities to improve its operational and energy efficiency,” says lead project manager Thomas Ansell. “Furthermore, to support the new lighting and refrigeration system, we built a new electrical room and tied into the existing utility infrastructure.”

The conversion to cooler space in the second freezer included the design and installation of new ammonia refrigeration components, the addition of an insulated dividing wall and life safety exits, the modification of an existing fire sprinkler system and the addition of new floor drains.

“It was important for BSF to maintain unimpaired operations and high standards of food safety during construction, so Stellar strategically planned and successfully implemented construction logistics, strategic phases and debris controls to accommodate these requirements,” says Ansell.

“Given ongoing global supply chain and labor availability issues, Stellar did a great job of keeping this project on track and finishing it in accordance with our overall timetable and best practices,” says BSF owner’s representative Jeff Edwards. “The quality of the finished construction is consistent with our state-of-the-art standards for food processing and storage facilities and will enable BSF to continue supporting the growing needs of its customers worldwide.”

BSF is a long-time customer of Stellar. When Stellar was founded in 1985, the firm built a storage and processing facility for BSF, followed by a new 300,000 sq.-ft. multipurpose facility and expansion in Nassau, Bahamas, in 2000 and 2013, respectively.