Workers continue construction on the new pedestrian bridge that will extend from the Academy side of the Volkswagen campus to the plant.Key work to finish Volkswagen’s $1 billion Chattanooga assembly plant is speeding ahead as the automaker drives toward starting production in March, officials said Tuesday.
“I think most of the country is looking at us,” said Ted Mills, the Chattanooga Industrial Development Board’s chairman, citing last Sunday’s highly viewed Super Bowl ad on the city-made Passat.
Tuesday, the board approved a $437,000 change order for the plant’s market delivery options building, lifting the cost of a Gray Construction contract to $8.18 million.
The structure, where custom items such as spoilers or special wheels will be installed on the new sedan before shipment, is about 70 percent done, said Steve Leach, the city’s public works administrator.
The city, Hamilton County and the state are funding the building as part of VW’s incentive package. The change order involved installing and designing security, information technology communication and fire alarm systems.