What is that round tower sticking out of the JUMP site? It's the building's core, sometimes called the helix. It's the first stage of the main building for Jack's Urban Meeting Place, a development the Simplot family is building to honor patriarch and agriculture pioneer J.R. Simplot, who died in 2008 at age 99.
Why is the core round? Unlike the square core of the Eighth and Main building a few blocks northeast, JUMP's center is round to accommodate ramps for an above-ground parking structure, Simplot spokesman David Cuoio said.
How's it all progressing? Construction of the parking ramps has begun and is expected to wrap up late this spring or early in the summer, Cuoio said. After that, crews will start building the studios that will make up most of the JUMP building's usable space.
Change in due date: JUMP was originally scheduled to be finished in the summer of 2014, but that has been pushed back to 2015. Cuoio didn't specify what complications caused the delay.
