Keven Gilbert  The Americus Times-Recorder

Cordele — On Wednesday, construction will officially begin on the Cordele Intermodal Center with a ground breaking ceremony set for 10 a.m. The location for the ceremony will be at 13th Avenue and Burnett Street, in the heart of a new 800-acre industrial park that is under development.

According to Jonathan Lafevers, president and chief commercial officer of Cordele Intermodal Services Inc. (CIS), some people who have been involved with the project since the outset, including officials from the Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) and Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) will be on hand for the ceremony. Lafevers says around 150 invitations to the ceremony were sent out to local officials and stake holders in the Intermodal Center. Gov. Sonny Perdue will not be in attendance because of other commitments.

According to the official site of the CIS, the facility, which has been in the works for seven years, will be built in two phases with the first phase of the facility being operational by the fall of 2010. Construction unofficially began in June at the former site of the Douglas Asphalt plant, which is the location of Wednesday’s event. The phase one site is on 42 acres owned by the Cordele-Crisp County IDA. The new Intermodal facility will be built and operated under a public-private partnership between the IDA and CIS. The CIS will operate the inland port and be the service provider to customers utilizing the new Intermodal facility.

Much interest has been generated in the areas surrounding Cordele and Crisp County, not excluding Americus and Sumter County, since the Intermodal Center began to materialize. The Intermodal Center is expected to create 3,500 jobs in the region and is likely to generate other economic opportunities along the U.S. Highway 280 corridor.  When the Intermodal Center is up and running, it is expected to put another 12,000 t0 15,000 vehicles on the road from Cordele and throughout the region, heading west toward ports in Mobile and New Orleans.